空の絆：Bonds of the Sky
by HanaIchi Ikari
Summary: SasuSaku. Haruno Sakura, a 14-year-old kunoichi, was captured by the Sound... transformed as a little girl! Now she's forced to be Uchiha Sasuke's servant, but it's safe to be around him. How will the story proceed? Altered starting from Naruto Shippuden.
1. Captured

_A/N: This has been influenced by __**Yellow Mask**__'s fic: Ripples. It's a very awesome story that influenced me to write this. Although this is very similar to Ripples in so many ways, I've tried my best to make most of it original. The plot is altered starting from when Naruto leaves Konoha with Jiraiya for 2 years._

**空の絆：****Bonds of the Sky****  
****CH 1: Captured **

What the hell was happening?

Haruno Sakura, a fourteen-year-old Leaf kunoichi, was simply sitting near a small waterfall taking a short break from a mission, soaking her long, pink hair. But her peaceful moment was interrupted by an ambush. She was rushed by an enemy's water-based technique, unable to quickly process that she was being attacked.

Missiles of water were being shot at her direction, but Sakura was able to dodge them in time.

"Who are you?" Sakura exclaimed. Instead of an answer, she received a flood that was ten times the size of her height. "Oh, shit!" She attempted to escape the towering wave, but it washed her away downstream. Her head slightly poked out of the river, evaluating her situation.

"Where is she?" Another voice shouted from her original location. A few seconds passed. "You worthless piece of…!" But the last word was cut off, and the sound of a painful yelp replaced it. "Damn it!" Then, she heard rushing footsteps. She immediately gathered as much air as possible in her lungs and ducked underwater. Sakura found a small bridge above her and hid below it. Her head poked out of the water again, sensing that her enemy disappeared and finally relaxed.

"_What was that?"_ she thought. She cleared her head of her instincts screaming at her to go after the enemy. _"No, that'd be too hasty. It's probably better if I head off somewhere else…"_ Sakura knew that there would've been another ambush if she returned to her original location. As much as she didn't want to take time away from her team, she had to disguise herself and go back the opposite way. But if she was captured, just a regular transformation technique wouldn't last long, so she scanned through her medical knowledge.

She came to a technique that would let her last through a transformation as long as wants, but she would have to bear the negative side effects. Medical ninjas were taught techniques to alter their genes for transformations that would be needed to last as long as they need, but because the side effects were too negative, they were _highly_ recommended not to use it unless as a last resort.

Her idea of disguising as a boy didn't really surprise her, but disguising as a little girl would've been more convenient. A little girl wouldn't be as vulnerable to attacks as a teenage girl or boy – let alone a little boy! As she heard a shout nearby, she quickly took a mental image of her mother but younger.

Sakura performed the sign of a transformation, and she became a little girl. Her appearance and height was that of a six-year-old, her hair was waist-length with a lilac shade, her face looked more innocent, and her clothes were slipping off her body. "Damn, what am I gonna do?" Her newfound voice was quite high.

She thought for a moment and came up with an idea. Fortunately, she was carrying her bag on her shoulder, which contained her kunai knife. She set it down on a grassy area and took out a kunai. "I'm just gonna have to go with this…" She cut her skirt up to her hips, revealing her loose dark green pants. Panicking, Sakura quickly ripped a strip of her cut skirt and tied it around her waist, then cutting her pants to her thighs. She took off her large shoes and worked barefoot.

She threw the remaining scraps of clothes, her shoes, her headband, and the kunai into a dirt pit. As quickly as possible, she took out a hairband with an embedded Konoha sign (from her childhood) and wore it on her head.

"Hey, you!"

Startled, Sakura turned around to see her enemy rushing to her. Her eyes widened when she saw the Sound Village's sign. The man before her raised a kunai, threatening to hurt her if she didn't answer truthfully. "Did you see a woman with pink hair around here?"

Sakura gave a small gesture of shaking her head, acting as if she was frightened to death.

The Sound Nin hissed under his breath.

"Are you guys… Sound Nin?" she blurted out. _"Shit."_

Dark and narrow eyes averted their ominous glare toward her, a flicker of murderous intent flashing in his eyes. Now that she identified them, Sakura knew she was going to be captured. Before running, she performed the signs of the technique that would alter her genes. Then, she was being chased again, but being a little girl, he would surely be able to catch up to her in an instant. Her hypothesis was correct.

Sakura's wrist was grabbed by a powerful grip and was lifted into the air. "Hey, let me go!" she exclaimed, squirming.

"You're coming with me!" The Sound Nin cuffed her with metal shackles. Sakura suddenly felt exhausted, and then… Everything went black.

~.~.~

A sheltered wagon was being dragged along a road surrounded by thick trees. There were Sound ninjas surrounding it.

Sakura's eyes snapped open from her head hitting something wooden. "Ow…" She sat up, her hand moving to her head. But something prevented her from doing so. "What the…?"

"Goodness, you're awake, darling! Are you alright?" An elderly woman's voice echoed through her clouded mind. She jerked her head to the voice and was staring at worried eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine, but who are you?" Sakura became surprised at her high voice, but recalled that she used a transformation jutsu to disguise herself as a little girl.

Before answering her, the elderly woman held her finger to her lips, gesturing her to lower her voice. "I am Kaori." The woman slightly bowed her head, then giving Sakura sympathetic eyes. "You've been captured by the Sound ninjas, sweetie."

"What?" Sakura silently hissed. Then, she looked around her. There were other people beside her and Kaori. Their eyes seemed paranoid, concerned, or just outright frightened to death. She was gaping at all the kidnapped victims around her. "Wait, Sound ninjas?"

"Yeah. If you're wondering what's gonna happen to you, try not to think about it." Another voice sounded behind her. It was coming from a boy, just about a few years older than her, whose eyes seemed distant. "All I can say is that it's not gonna be pretty."

"That is my grandson, Rei. He was captured by the Sound-"

Kaori was interrupted by Rei, "Obaa-san, I told you not to tell anyone." He looked away from his grandmother, his hands clenching into fists.

"But, Rei…"

"Just don't, Obaa-san." Rei's voice sharpened to such a tone that Kaori stopped talking to Sakura.

She took that as a gesture of dismissal and observed her surroundings. _"I need to get out of here… fast!"_ She tried to gather her chakra to break open her shackles, but there wasn't enough to unleash her superhuman strength. _"Why can't I gather my chakra?"_

"If you're trying to escape using a chakra method, then you'll only tire yourself," Rei whispered. "These are chakra-draining shackles; very effective. These can quickly drain you of your chakra until an exhausting amount."

"Damn it…" she quietly cursed under her breath. "Wait, how did you know that I have chakra?"

Rei was silent for a moment, but gave in. "I used to be a shinobi, so I can sense that you have the amounts of a genin's," Rei elaborated. Sakura nodded, and he gulped and exhaled heavily. "If they find out that you have large amounts of chakra, then you're going to be trapped in _that place_ until death."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't want you to know, but I want you to be cautious."

Sakura had no option but to admit defeat. It was hard for her to accept, but she'd rather be conscious and shackled than fight her way out. She once again observed the prisoners' frames, until she came across a particular face. "You!" She rushed to a man in the corner, also shackled. "You're that guy who used the water-based jutsu on m… m-my cousin!" she whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry! I – I deeply apologize!" the man quietly exclaimed. He cowered, whimpering apologies. "Please spare me! I didn't mean to attack her!"

"Oh really?" Sakura was having difficulties with her temper problem, for she was starting to get carried away with being a six-year-old. "Tell me why you did."

"It… it was on orders of my m-master!" he whimpered. "He ordered me to attack the pink-haired kunoichi after observing her!"

"Orders? Master? What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you! Please spare my life, please!" Now the man was kneeling at her feet, apologizing repeatedly. Sakura sighed, realizing that the man must've gone through mental and emotional pain if he was actually kneeling at her feet. "Please don't hurt me!"

"I won't. I'm sure you didn't mean to do it intentionally…" Sakura patted the man's shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." With that, the man jerked his head up, his eyes gleaming with relief.

"Thank you, thank you!" Sakura gave him a short nod and walked away. She sat in her original seat, beginning to strategize her escape once they arrived to their destination.

"Hey, what's your name?" Rei interrupted her train of thoughts.

"Sa…" Sakura abruptly stopped, thinking of any name that may fit her appearance. "A-Ayame*."

"Ayame, huh?" Rei nodded, acknowledging her name. "Try not to become an experiment or be thrown in a dungeon. It's better to be a slave than any of those two positions, in your age of course."

"Experiments and dungeons are something I would definitely understand, but s-slaves?"

"Yeah, that Orochimaru is gathering slaves for his subordinates," Rei muttered darkly. "Even that gopher apprentice of his, Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura's eyes jerked their stare to Rei. "What?"

"_Sa-Sasuke-kun?"_ Her heart was screaming that it was definitely the Uchiha Sasuke she knew. But she also knew that she had to make it creditable that Ayame didn't know the mentioned name. "Uchiha Sasuke? Who's that?"

"They say he's the last survivor of the Uchiha massacre. All I know is that he is power-hungry and an idiot."

Had Sakura been 12 she'd be fussing over that remark, but she was now fourteen. She had to get over him someday. "What do you mean?"

"He used to live in your village, but left. I heard that he has a goal, but it doesn't seem positive since he went to that snake-creep," Rei elaborated. "I never liked that guy. Not only does he treat others like they don't exist, he doesn't have _any_ interest in girls." Sakura felt something hot in her chest, but held it back. "I wonder if he has any problems with his hormones…"

Sakura giggled. "Hormones? That's pretty hilarious."

Rei looked at Sakura, a small smirk working its way across his frame. The wagon suddenly came to a stop as a Sound Nin opened the curtains of the wagon. Everyone took this as a sign to exit the wagon. Once everyone was out, they were guided to an underground hideout. "Oh, how typical of that snake 'god'," he mumbled. Sakura rolled her eyes in a smug way, smirking.

The prisoners were guided to a room, which looked more like a training ground. "Line up!" a Sound Nin barked. The prisoners obeyed the order and lined up, fidgeting with their eyes darting back and forth. Sakura was at the last of the line. The Sound Nin walked to another entrance, addressing someone hidden behind the shadows. Sakura tried to read his lips. "Orochimaru-sama, the prisoners have lined up."

Sakura felt like she had been frozen by an icy wind the moment Orochimaru replied, "Very well done. I will take it from here." With that, the ninja took a bow and stood guard next to the entrance. Orochimaru entered the room with Kabuto. Behind Kabuto came in the person Sakura expected: Uchiha Sasuke. "Well, Sasuke-kun, they are your choice."

"Look, I don't need anyone assisting me," Sasuke snapped. "Why would I need one?"

"Well, you shouldn't be so hasty with your goal, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru stated. "Certainly a servant may fulfill whatever you need." He scanned the prisoners. "Take a pick, Sasuke-kun. We seem to have more prisoners that seem fit for certain purposes."

"Hn," Sasuke turned his head away, but his eyes were scanning the line of prisoners. When his eyes came to Sakura, he stared at her for a period of time. _"Why is there a kid here?"_ He raised his head, walking towards Sakura.

As she saw him approaching toward her direction, she felt her legs twitch. Rei's finger was nudged her arm, reassuring her that he was here. When Sasuke stepped in front of her, she looked up at him without hesitation, her emerald green eyes devoid of any fear or shock. It was rather more of an innocent and curious expression. "Hello, I'm Ayame." Sakura felt slightly intimidated by his towering height compared to hers.

Sasuke gave her his usual distant expression, but Sakura didn't care about that anymore. She was a prisoner as a little girl, dammit! He blinked, a few questions appearing in his head. "How old are you?"

Although it was quite childish of her, she raised her hands showing six fingers. "I'm six!" Sasuke was quite surprised that she was captured at this young age.

"Who captured her?" Sasuke's voice echoed throughout the room. The man who captured Sakura approached Sasuke. "What's your reason of capturing her?"

"She immediately found out that I was a Sound Nin, and she is from the Hidden Leaf Village." The spy pointed to Sakura's head, which had Konoha's hairband around it. Sasuke's eyes became clouded, a flame of memories threatening to flood his head. "She already knew that much, so I had to capture her."

Sasuke stared at Sakura again, knowing it was too late for her to go back to her home village. Strangely, he noticed something flickering in her eyes, no matter how bright and innocent they appeared: Loneliness and a hint of relief. He deeply desired no servants to serve him, but it was better to choose her than letting her become another's servant, putting her in the dungeons, or worse, become an experiment for Orochimaru.

Sakura stared at Sasuke's eyes, which seemed to debate over something difficult. "Ano… Are you okay?" When Sasuke didn't answer, Sakura couldn't help the hilarious urge to ask this one question. "Are you constipated?" Sasuke appeared expressionless, but she knew he was asking the most bizarre questions to himself. She felt Rei chuckling, because his hand was trembling in an upbeat way.

Sasuke did not believe what the little girl asked him, but overcame it. "Orochimaru, I'll be taking her." Sakura's eyes widened at Sasuke's declaration.

"Wha-?" Sakura didn't want to become a servant for Sasuke, but nor did she want to become an experiment or be thrown into the dungeons! She either had to go with either those two or become a servant for Sasuke. Clearly, it was a no-win situation, but she decided to be Sasuke's servant with a sigh of defeat.

"I do respect your decisions, Sasuke-kun, but why that child out of everyone?" Kabuto asked. "Is it because she's a Leaf villager?"

Sasuke glared at Kabuto, receiving a flinch.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Now that we're done here, we will be leaving." With that, Orochimaru left with Kabuto following close behind him. The room was silent and Sasuke was staring at the entrance Orochimaru and Kabuto disappeared to.

Rei bent down to her, giving her a relieved smile. "You're better off with him than any of those two positions, Ayame-chan." Sakura knew that he was happy for her, but she couldn't bear to see Rei and the others being tortured as slaves, experiments, or thrown into the dungeons. She bit her lip, fighting off tears.

She had cried enough over her two years with Team 7, back when Sasuke was with them. Suddenly, Sakura was pushed by a guard, gesturing her to follow Sasuke. She obeyed with hesitation, and followed Sasuke about five steps away from him. She looked back to where the other prisoners were looking down, their hope dying in their eyes. Rei still held strong, and gave her a small wave.

"You will be wearing these from now on." Someone in a lab coat wrapped a leather collar, with the Uchiha emblem, around her neck. "This is ensuring that you are Sasuke-sama's servant." Sakura placed her hands on the collar. It was locked tight enough to let her breathe, but there were no openings to reassure her that this could be taken off.

* * *

Sakura was having a mental fight with herself.

"_You stupid Sakura! You just had to put on that wristband! Not only that, you even acted like a little kid there, acting all innocent!"_ Sakura held down the urge to smack her forehead. _"But I did _not_ want to be Orochimaru's experiment or get thrown into the dungeons!"_ She rolled her eyes at the last remark. They arrived to Sasuke's room, which was quite larger than the others.

"Whoa… You sleep here _alone_?" Sakura exclaimed. "This place is huge!"

Sasuke sat at the edge of his bed. He was observing Sakura and her wristband, which was wrapped around her leg. "What's your name?"

"Ayame." Sakura took Sasuke's silence as an acknowledgement of her name. "Now that you took me here, what am I supposed to do?"

Sasuke's eyes averted their gaze to Sakura. "What?"

"I'm your _"slave"_ now, aren't I?" Sakura hissed. "And you're now my master, right, bastard?"

Sasuke's eyes slightly widened at the last word. "What did you call me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, repeating, "Bas-tard." She crossed her arms. "And do you have any thoughts of letting me go?" Instead of an answer, Sasuke stayed silent. "Hey! Answer me, idiot!" She couldn't believe the words that were escaping out of her mouth. Sure, she had not yet accepted Sasuke's betrayal, but it felt like she just wanted to release all the grief bundled up in her heart.

"Stay here."

"I don't want to! I want to go back home!"

"That's… impossible," Sasuke stated. Although he wanted to take her back to Konoha, it was risky, for Orochimaru would suspect something behind his actions.

Sakura was grinding her teeth, impatient. She crossed her arms, angry. "Fine… But someday, I'm going to escape!" After that, Sasuke left, leaving Sakura alone in the room. "How nice, Sasuke-kun. You're leaving a child alone in a dark room." Now, Sakura was trying to pry the collar off her neck. "Damn it, why can't I break this thing?" She was attempting to use her superhuman strength, but it also seemed like the collar was draining her chakra once more. "Did they find out about my chakra amounts?"

After many attempts, Sakura's situation wasn't changing. She was growing more and more exhausted until she was near the brim of unconsciousness. She was scanning through the negative symptoms of the extra technique she added to her transformation. _"There was… exhaustion, chakra depletion, the constant switching of appearances – I'm gonna have to be careful with that one – dizzy and fainting spells, numbness, temporary paralysis, and the worst of all is that I'm stuck like this until some other force counters it."_ She only had to be cautious of revealing her identity.

Luckily, the chances of her identity being revealed depended on how much she disclosed her personality. In terms of symptoms, it rarely happened to the user.

Right now, she couldn't think any longer, for exhaustion was catching up to her. Her head lowered and she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

An hour had passed, and Sasuke was finishing his training in a dojo, practicing a variation of his chidori. So far, he had made good progress. He was able to channel his chidori through his body, causing electricity to envelop his body. With that variation, an enemy wouldn't even be as close as to attacking him without injuring themselves.

He became mentally satisfied that he had finally mastered that variation, and so was his mentor. Sasuke, now done with his training, shuffled past the sannin, heading to his room. "You seem to be preoccupied today, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru stated. "Is there something bothering you?"

The Uchiha stopped walking, his back now facing the sannin. "It's nothing." With that, he resumed his path to his room. But Orochimaru was right; he was preoccupied with something: Ayame. His head was filled with questions related to her capture. _What was she doing in such a remote area away from Konoha? Who was with her? How did she figure out a Sound Nin's identity? Why wasn't she scared when she was captured?_

It was strange for a child her age to be calm in her situation, but then again, she was six years old. Sasuke cleared his head of questions and entered his room. His eyes scanned his room, finding Ayame curled at the foot of his bed. Her bag was set down between her and the wall. He walked over to her, shaking Ayame's shoulder. She stirred, but showed no signs of waking up.

"Hey." He shook her a little more, but no signs of awakening yet. Sasuke sighed. Sakura murmured something in her sleep and leaned her head on the wall. "Hey!"

Small eyelids fluttered half-open, green eyes staring at Sasuke. "Oh you're back?" There was a small speck of disappointment in her tone… which Sasuke tried to ignore. "What do you want?"

"If you're going to sleep, at least get a futon," Sasuke replied. He pointed to a closet next to his bed.

"Oh, there's a futon? That would've been nice to mention earlier…" Sakura drawled as she rubbed her neck. "And now my neck is all sore!"

Sasuke stood back up not even giving her a plain remark. "Hn." He lied down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Sakura was opening the closet, where an old futon was laid folded on a shelf. Below it were Sasuke's weapons. She blinked, ignoring the stored bladed weapons. She tried to take the futon out, but she was much too short. She climbed to the shelf where Sasuke's kunais were stored in.

"Ugh… I still can't reach…" Sakura murmured. She reached her arm out as much as possible, trying to grab the futon. The shelf she was standing on suddenly tilted, causing her to lose her balance. "Ah!" She jumped, grabbing the corner of the mattress. Her feet were now dangling in mid-air, while her hand was preoccupied with the shelf they were grabbing on. "Um…"

Sasuke's eyes moved to Sakura's body dangling from a shelf.

"How can I get down from here?"

He walked to his closet, seating Sakura on one arm, while the other set down the futon. Turning his head to little Sakura's eyes, he raised a brow at her. "You could've asked for help earlier."

"Nah, 'cause I'm sure you had trust in your little "slave" that she can get the futon all on her own," she sarcastically insisted. "Also, can you _please_ set me down?" Sasuke lowered himself, letting Sakura get off his arm. She dusted the futon and sat down on it. "Ooh, this is comfy and plushy!" she exclaimed, giggling.

Sasuke leaned on the wall this time, watching Sakura set her futon next to Sasuke's bed. "You're going to sleep there?"

"Why? Is that bad?"

"Do whatever you want," Sasuke answered, his eyes staring at the door.

"And by the way, would it kill you to have a window in here? I can't even tell the time!" Sakura pouted. "I wanna go outside…!"

But Sasuke hasn't answered, remaining silent.

"Hey!"

He gave Sakura a small glare, seemingly gesturing her to silence herself.

When she did, she heard footsteps and a presence near his room. "Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier?" she mouthed. All she got was a short shrug. Then, the presence faded away into oblivion. "Tch, you could've just gave me a gesture than a glare, moron."

Sasuke stood up, heading to his door.

"Are you going to leave me alone again?" Sakura asked. She cupped her mouth. Why did she say that? She did not know, but she felt like there was a part of her heart that didn't want him to leave her again. _"It looks like I really can't hate him deep in my heart…"_ Sakura had to admit, but she knew there was some good in him.

"Didn't you want to go outside?"

Sakura perked up, her eyes gleaming with hope. She nodded, scrambling up to her feet. "We're really going outside?"

"Yes," Sasuke verified plainly. With that, Sakura caught up to Sasuke, walking beside him.

"_Maybe I'll get used to this lifestyle… As long as nothing too bad happens,"_ Sakura thought. _"Maybe Sasuke-kun won't notice… until the time's right. He'll probably feel so awkward if I reveal my identity."_ She smiled to herself, strangely happy that she was with Sasuke again. (Yes, it was quite a sudden change in mood and thoughts.)

~.~.~

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Kiba screeched through the forest. "This is really bad!"

"What's wrong?" Kakashi turned his head from his Icha-Icha Paradise novel.

"Sakura's gone! She might've been captured!"

Shikamaru snapped awake at the word 'captured'. "Captured? By who?"

"I don't know, but I smelled another scent in her last location," Kiba declared. He glanced at the jounin, who closed the novel. "What should we do, Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Well, judging by what you told me, there are two possibilities: She's been captured by an outsider or wandered somewhere in the village," Kakashi hypothesized. "But our first priority is to finish our mission here, and then we will find Sakura."

"But Kakashi-Sensei! Sakura is our teammate and a medic ninja!" Shikamaru objected. "We should be finding her right now!"

"Look, for all we know, she _could_ be somewhere in the village," Kakashi insisted. "We'll be finished with our mission by tomorrow morning, so we'll have the whole day to find her."

"What if we can't find her the whole day?"

"If it that is our result, I'll relay a message to Tsunade-sama that Sakura has gone missing."

"So she's gonna be deemed as a missing nin?" Kiba exclaimed. "Just like Sasuke?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

A memory of Sasuke tugged at Kakashi's heart. "No, when I mean by 'missing nin', I mean that she will be considered captured." Kiba and Shikamaru sighed in relief. "Until we get more information, we'll have to give her that title." Kakashi looked at the darkening sky. "It's getting dark. We should get some rest for tomorrow."

~.~.~

"Are you satisfied?" Sasuke asked. The two had gone into the center of the forest, where the trees created a crater of their own. There, Sakura was able to see the vast sky clearly.

"Yeah," Sakura replied. She looked up at the boy before her, arching her head all the way just to look at his face. "By the way, what can I call you?" Sasuke glanced at her, raising a brow. "Let me rephrase that: How should I address you: Sasuke-san, Uchiha-kun, Sasuke-s… sama, etcetera?" Sakura swore that she choked when she had tried to say "Sasuke-sama".

"Do whatever you want."

"Fine, then can I address you as "Bastard"?"

"No." Sasuke crossed his arms. "You cannot call me by any words related to that."

"Fine, can I just call you by your first name, if that's okay?" Sakura asked. It was a first-name basis*, but she didn't think Sasuke would care. He'd probably say…

"… Sure."

Sakura looked up. She expected him to say, "Call me however you want." Not that! But she understood and pointed at the sky.

"Look, the sky's so colorful!" she exclaimed, a bubbly laughter escaping her mouth. _"Maybe I should start acting like me in my childhood days… when I met Ino: A tough, yet shy little girl."_ As Sakura reflected back to those days, she remembered the time when she first fell in love with Sasuke. _"What the…? That is so irrelevant to my situation right now!"_

"It's getting dark," Sasuke stated. "We're going."

"Okay." Sakura followed close behind Sasuke, but her mind was preoccupied with escape plans. _"This could be my chance!"_ But her ninja instincts contradicted her statement. _"What if he catches you?"_ She thought,_ "I could just say… 'I got lost'?"_ It was a lame excuse, but for a six-year-old, it wasn't.

Her heart was pounding and a sweat drop rolled down her cheeks. This could mean returning back to her team. This would mean that she can tell her team where Orochimaru's hideout is. This should mean that Sasuke can come back to Konoha! But for the time being, that would mean staying away from Sasuke again. She took a step back and took another one, but the sound of a snapping twig stopped her. She froze when Sasuke turned his head to her.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, his voice having a cold, cautious tone.

Sakura quickly shifted her personality into her younger self's. "I thought I heard something near you and freaked out," Sakura replied. A frog suddenly hopped out from the bushes, right in front of her. Even as a fourteen-year-old, Sakura still didn't like frogs. She shrieked, causing the creature to hop away from fright. Crouching into a ball, she screamed, "I hate frogs!"

Sasuke was not fond of opening his heart to others, but the child seemed to have melted some ice in him. He walked over to the crouching Sakura, picking her up in his arm again. He resumed their path to the hideout.

"Ugh… This is so weird…"

Sasuke averted his eyes to her, staring deeply into her green eyes. _Where had he seen them before?_ He dismissed that question as Sakura waved her hands in front of his face. He suddenly said, "I don't like to have servants."

"Then, why did you decide to take me?"

"You're a child," Sasuke stated coldly. "You'd probably not even survive if you were someone else's servant or in the dungeons."

"What's wrong with being someone else's servant?"

"I'm not answering that."

Sakura pouted, crossing her arms. "What about the dungeons? Who's in there?"

"Prisoners that have been experimented on. They can be uncontrollable monsters."

"Oh." Sakura was about to speak again when her stomach interceded with a growl. "Oops…"

Sasuke stared at her blushing frame. "That was a big growl," he murmured.

"I heard that, bakayaro."

"Hn."

They entered the hideout, once again returning to the dark hallways. "Tch, of all the underground places I've been in, this is the worst." She rolled her eyes. "Does Orochimaru tend to make his hideout look _that_ ominous in the inside?"

A smirk formed on Sasuke's frame. Sakura's stomach growled once more.

"What's for dinner?"

"Who knows…?" Sasuke entered his room, standing still at the door. "Do you want to wait until yours arrive or do you want to come with me?"

"I want to come with you. I don't want something that looks edible, yet poisonous brought to me," Sakura replied. Sasuke started walking to the dining rooms. "Seriously, what if dinner is like some weird stew that could contain an ingredient that could paralyze me?"

"If that was so, then we'd all be paralyzed." They entered the dining room, and Sakura expected strange-looking dishes, but they appeared to be normal.

"I stand corrected," Sakura muttered. As Sasuke let her down, she saw different dishes laid out in front of her. Her eyes scanned through each tray as Sasuke picked a bowl of rice and stew, two orange wedges, and a cup of green tea.

"Not eating?"

"I'll just get this one." Sakura grabbed a bun, which was about the size of Sasuke's palm, a thin sheet of glaze coating it. She followed Sasuke to his seat. "You mind if I eat here?" Judging from the Uchiha's silence, she took that as a 'no'. She sat on the floor about to take a bite of her dinner until Orochimaru and Kabuto came in.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, I see you came here early with the child."

Sasuke didn't say anything, nor did Sakura, but continued to eat.

"Well, enjoy your meal, child." Orochimaru and Kabuto sat down, eating their dinner.

Sakura gave Orochimaru a cautious glance and nodded. _"Ugh, Orochimaru still creep me out."_ She suppressed a shudder and took another bite of her bun. _"But I need to be careful around those two. Orochimaru is a sannin, so there's a strong possibility that he'll notice my chakra signature. Kabuto was trained as a medic ninja and could probably reveal my identity if he sees something suspicious."_ As she ate, she thought of escape plans, but all she would be able to resort to is fight her way out.

"Your name was Ayame, yes?" Kabuto asked. Sakura perked up, nodding sharply. Kabuto nudged his glasses, his face expressionless. "I see. Well, thank you for answering my question." He went back to his meal.

Sasuke finished eating, leaving his plates on the table. A servant picked them up, placing them in a tray she was carrying.

"U-um… E-excuse me…" Sakura excused herself from Orochimaru and Kabuto. She was not finished eating yet, but hurried over to him, holding her unfinished bun. Once she caught up to Sasuke, she resumed eating while walking. "How can you deal with that aura? It's so creepy…"

He smirked. "Get used to it."

~.~.~

It was around midnight, and Sakura was still awake.

"_I'd get out of here, but that seems fruitless,"_ Sakura thought. She recalled seeing guards placed at every corner of a hallway and outside. _"They'd catch me instantly!"_ This was becoming more and more difficult for her to escape.

"You're not planning to escape, are you?" Sasuke's voice suddenly called out. Startled, she jumped. "That's going to be pointless. You'd be beaten if they catch you."

"Tch, you weren't asleep?"

"Your breathing constantly spiked up and down, which would mean you're still awake."

Sakura rolled her eyes, sighing. "Fine, I'll sleep." She had to consider her first day a failed attempt. She relaxed, letting her heavy eyelids drop and guide her to sleep.

Sasuke finally heard the even breathing of a sleeping person, so he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_A/N: What do you think? Please review! ^^_

_*Ayame = Iris (Sakura's new form has lilac hair, and Irises have different colors. But they mostly come in purple, so yeah. :D)_

_*First-Name Basis = In Japan, when you're really close in a relationship (Friendship/Love), you call them by first names. Sure, Sakura was close to Sasuke, but Ayame isn't. She's a six-year-old, so she doesn't know about the first-name basis yet._


	2. Fading Love

_A/N: Okay, there has been a little modification. When it's Sasuke's point-of-view, "Sakura" is changed to "Ayame". If it's confusing, then I apologize. But it's more confusing if I put in Sakura's name in Sasuke's perspective. It'll feel like he knows it's Sakura, but really he doesn't. And it's easier to tell which is his or Sakura's POV._

**空の絆：****Bonds of the Sky****  
CH 2: Fading Love**

"_I really love you more than anything, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, her tears streaming down her cheeks. She had finally confessed with true words directly to Sasuke. She grasped her hands together, as if praying to herself that Sasuke would change his mind. "So please… don't leave…"_

"_You're really annoying," Sasuke responded, smirking. He turned his back toward her again and took another step._

"_Wait! Please don't leave!" Sakura attempted to approached the Uchiha, who was about to leave Konoha Village. "I… If you leave, I'm going to scream out loud-!"_

_Sasuke disappeared, sensing him behind her. "Sakura…" There was a pause. "Arigatou."_

_Sakura could only listen to his last words, frozen. There was nothing she was able to do. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her body and that was it. She was unconscious, but her heart was still crying out, "Sasuke-kun… Please don't leave Konoha! Please don't leave me!" She wanted to shout it out, but now she couldn't say anything that could stop him._

~.~.~

Sakura woke up, startled by her dream. She took deep breaths, shaking her head. _"Again?"_

"What's wrong with you?"

She looked up, finding Sasuke's onyx eyes staring at her. "N-nothing. J-just a bad dream." Sakura rubbed her eyes, her breathing becoming calmer. "W-what time is it?" Her bangs brushed across her eyes as she rubbed them.

"It's around 4." Sasuke blinked his drowsiness away.

"G-gomen. I didn't mean to wake you up." Sakura blinked hard, trying to clear the blurriness of her vision. "Just ignore me whenever you think I'm having bad dreams. Whatever happens to me isn't really important anyways." Her head was bobbing side to side from sleepiness. "I'm gonna go back to sleep… Just for a few more minutes." With that, she fell to her mattress, falling asleep immediately.

Sasuke watched Ayame sleep, his hard onyx eyes softening. She somehow reminded him of Sasuke's young self… before his whole clan was massacred. In his words, he was too innocent to notice anything bad, just like how Ayame was right now. Couldn't she realize that she was imprisoned by a dangerous fate? Shouldn't she see that she will be stuck with him for a long period of time? Wouldn't she be missing her family and friends?

"God, I can't sleep…" Sakura sat up, scratching her head. "Damn, that dream really got to my head…" she murmured. Her hair was slightly frizzy and her clothes were a mess.

"Hey, don't you have any other clothes in that bag of yours?"

Ayame shook her head. "No, I couldn't find much clothes fit for me, so I took my cousin's."

"Don't you have a family?"

"_Uh-oh… Damn, I said that out of impulse!"_ she thought. _"Ah, I have to think of something!"_ Sakura's hand clenched into a fist. "No, but I used to have one. I only have my cousin and her mother." She got up, heading to the restroom.

Meanwhile, Sasuke leaned on the wall. _"She doesn't have a family, huh?"_ A flashback of his encounters with Itachi flashed through his head. "At least she has her cousin."

"What was that?" Sakura's head poked out from the door.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't reply, leaving Sakura to roll her eyes. "So what do you want?"

"You don't mind if I shower right now, right?"

Once again, he did not reply, but shrugged. The little girl scoffed and went back inside. The sound of rushing water sounded throughout Sasuke's room.

Her head poked out again. "Ne, the leather collar won't kill, electrocute, or do something to me if this thing's in water, right?"

"No."

"Okay!" Sakura grinned, disappearing behind the restroom door again.

Sasuke's mind was becoming preoccupied with Team 7, his former team, when he pondered about Ayame's capture. Fortunately, her voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"Wow, snake guy actually has warm water installed?" Sakura stepped under the shower head, letting the warm water soak her body. "This feels so good." It really did feel refreshing to take a warm shower after a long day. "Ne, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Why did you leave Konoha?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"_Shoot! Not again!"_ Sakura thought. "U-uh… I've heard rumors?"

"Hn." Sasuke shifted his position. "That's none of your business."

Sakura rolled her eyes, shampooing. _"I hate it when you say that, Sasuke-kun… I really hate it!"_ But she shouldn't be saying that aloud or she'd be revealing an obvious part of her personality. "Oh! Thank you for the wonderful reassurance," she remarked sarcastically. "Sheesh, do you _always_ reply like that to almost every question someone asks you?" Her fingers combed her bangs behind her ears.

She suddenly pondered about her hairstyle. Should she put her bangs up like she usually did or should she put it down? After she washed the soap off her head, she walked to the mirror. Despite her wet hair, she brushed her bangs back to the front of her forehead then held them up. _"Maybe I should put it down… I look more like me if I put them up."_

Sasuke knocked on the door, just as she was about to go under the shower head again. "How long are you going to be in there?"

"Just give me a few more minutes!" Sakura exclaimed, applying conditioner on her hair. "And don't you dare come in!"

"I won't."

Sakura picked up her makeshift shirt, but gasped. "Oh no!" The stitches were falling apart! "My clothes…"

"What happened now?"

"My clothes are falling apart…!" Sakura panicked. Her shirt's stitches were falling off and her makeshift belt still wouldn't be able to hold her pants up the whole day. "What am I going to do?" She jerked her head to the sound of an opening door. "I told you not to come in!" Then, her eyes fell upon Sasuke's hand holding a shirt and a pair of pants. "Uh… Aren't those yours?"

"Aa, but these are from when I was your age, so they'll probably fit."

Sakura took them, shutting the door. She hung them on a hanger on the door, examining them. "Okay, I'm grateful, but do I have to wear something that has the Uchiha symbol on it?" Back then, she would've loved to wear Sasuke's clothes, but now, it was just simply uncomfortable thinking about it.

"It's the only pair of clothes I've got that would fit you." A hint of disappointment was in Sasuke's tone. Was the thought of wearing an Uchiha shirt _that_ bad to her?

Sakura groaned in defeat, not wanting to wear her tattered clothes. "Fine…" Her fashion sense started to activate. "I wish this was a lighter shade though. I mean, this kind of color doesn't go very well with my hair color." Yes, in fact, the shirt was a rough, gray color, while her hair was a soft, lilac shade. But she didn't have a choice, so she started putting on her new clothes.

Sasuke stared at the wall, sighing. Really, he didn't understand girls and he would never want to.

It only took Sakura one minute to finish. She observed herself in the mirror. The collar widely embraced her neck, almost like her head can disappear under it like a turtle. The shirt and pants fit her perfectly. Turning around, she moved her hair up, seeing the Uchiha symbol embedded onto the shirt. Well, luckily, her hair would be covering the symbol.

Sasuke heard the click of the door and turned his head to Ayame. In a way, she was right: The color of the clothes didn't match her hair color… and her eyes. He brushed past her and closed the restroom door behind him.

Sakura stuffed her torn clothes into her bag. "Ugh, I feel so weird wearing this…" she murmured. "At least it looks new." She looked at the closet, where Sasuke's weapons were stored. It beckoned her to look through it. "Ooh, I can't, but…" She tiptoed to it. "I don't think it'll hurt to peek?" Sliding the closet door open, she came upon a sword. "Whoa."

It was a long and thin sword, which had an extremely sharp blade. It might cut through a human's joints without any difficulty! The thought made Sakura shiver. The creaking of the restroom door made her jump, shrieking.

Sasuke's eyes averted their attention to Ayame. "Why are you looking through the closet?"

"Uh…" She closed the door. "I was curious about the weapons?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, vaguely shaking his head. He slid the closet door closed.

"I wasn't messing around with them, okay?" Sakura hissed. "I could've been looking at them, for all you care!" She rushed to the door, opening an inch. "No one's awake yet?" Her mind started working. _"Wait, this could be my chance! I could escape!"_

"If you're planning to escape, there are guards outside."

"_Damn it! How the hell does he do that?"_ Sakura exclaimed. _"Does he know I'm trying to escape whenever I think I have the chance?"_ She slumped, repetitively hitting her head on the wall. "I'm never gonna get out of here…"

The Uchiha opened his closet again, taking out the sword Ayame examined. He, obviously, was going to train. "Are you going to stay here?"

"I'd very much prefer that," Sakura replied. "I don't want to be slashed dead because of you." She went back to the closet, where Sasuke was packing some kunais in a small bag. "Wait, where are you going to train this time?"

"Outside."

Again, the little girl's head jerked in disbelief, but soon was filled with hope. "Really?"

"Now you want to come…?" Sasuke asked, his brow raised. She nodded. "Fine, but don't attempt to escape."

"Ugh, whatever. Anyways, is there any weapon I can practice with?" She scanned the set of bladed weapons. "How about this?" Her hands grabbed a hilt of a small dagger. Sasuke shook his head. "Sword?" He repeated his previous answer. "Ax? Nah, too heavy…" Sakura's eyes were laid upon a set of senbon. "How about senbon? I'm really good with those, I swear!"

Sasuke shrugged. He never used senbons anyways. A thought popped in his head. "But attacking me with those is impossible."

Sakura cursed under her breath, causing Sasuke to smirk. She took out a small pocket of senbons, holding it in her tiny hands. "There are targets there, right?" Sasuke nodded. "Perfect!"

~.~.~

After half an hour of practicing with senbons, Sakura sat on a log, exhausted. _"He never takes a break, does he?"_ She was watching Sasuke train, and he hasn't taken one break! He never stopped, and he made training look easy. "Don't you ever get a few minutes of rest? It's unhealthy if you train constantly without taking a breather."

But he ignored her, continuing his array of attacks on thick straw dummies.

"And you're not listening…" Sakura mumbled. _"Someday, all the karma is going to come back to you, Sasuke-kun."_ Half of her chuckled, while the other half was horrified at that thought. _"Wow that would be a lot of bad karma…"_ She continued to watch him and his surprising bundle of new techniques she hasn't seen before. "Dude, take a few minutes to breathe."

After Sasuke landed his final attack on a target, he evaluated his progress. 38 hit targets out of 40. The two misses were behind him, which was part of his blind spot. His teeth were grinding against each other, wanting to overcome that blind spot of his. He was about to take another go, until his arm was grabbed.

"I told you to at least take some rest, dammit!" Sakura exclaimed. "If you faint from fatigue, it's not _my_ responsibility! It's your fault for overexerting yourself!" Her eyes were fierce and frustrated.

Sasuke slightly narrowed his eyes. He tried to pry off Ayame's hands, but proved useless.

"I'm not letting you go, until you take a quick breather!" This was dangerous, of course. She was grabbing on to the arm of a man who could knock her down any second! "Come on!"

"Let me go."

"Sasuke-sama, is your servant disrupting you of your training?" A guard came running by, who must've overheard Ayame's shouts. Sasuke didn't answer, but she rolled her eyes. "You are coming with me, child!" The guard was about to grab her wrist until Sasuke gave him his trademark cold stare.

"Don't touch her. She's doing nothing."

The guard cringed under his icy stare, stammering. "H-hai! I deeply apologize for my actions!" The guard slipped away, returning back to his post.

Sakura couldn't believe what Sasuke just did. Sasuke, the emotionless and cold Uchiha, actually let her escape a dangerous encounter. "Why did you help me?"

"You'd be beaten," Sasuke stated. He slightly massaged his shoulder, sitting down on a large rock. He now saw Ayame's mouth hanging open. "What?" Yes, he helped her from receiving a harsh beating. He knew that Sound shinobi were harsh with their servants, even when the servants had done even one simple thing wrong. If Ayame was beaten, she'd be mentally and physically scarred for a long time.

"Wait, are you resting?" Sakura crossed her arms, smirking to herself. "Aha, see? Looks like your shoulder was aching for a while."

Although Sasuke didn't like to admit it, she was right. His right shoulder was experiencing some sharp pains.

"You should've taken a break."

"Hn." Sasuke thought about Ayame's family, questions arose in his mind. "Oi."

Sakura snapped back to attention. "Huh?"

"What happened to your family?"

"_Damn it, must he have to ask me that?"_ she thought. "T-they… abandoned me… when I was only 4. Shortly afterward, they were killed." This was wrong for her to tell Sasuke. If she was forced to reveal herself, he's hate her for her lies. He suffered a massacre of his whole clan, and yet, she was lying to him about her "parents" abandoning her and killed. "And my cousin picked me up and I lived with her family ever since…"

Sasuke blinked.

"… UNTIL NOW!" she exclaimed. "I've been living with my cousin and her mother until now! Until I was captured by you guys!" She held back the temper tantrum that threatened to surface. "Damn it, I want to kick something so bad!" Sakura approached a straw dummy and jumped. She kicked it as hard as she can, but she did not gather her chakra to use her super human strength. She wasn't satisfied, but it was enough to rid of the boiling tantrum.

"They abandoned you?"

Sakura cringed. She didn't want to lie, but she had to… for now. "Yeah. I guess they didn't want me." She groaned. "Okay, since when did you start worrying about my family?"

"Tch, never mind," Sasuke snarled. "Forget I said anything." He felt frustrated, because this harmless little girl in front of him was making him worry about something like this. But there was one more question that was clouding his mind. "Who's your cousin?"

"I'm not telling you. I don't care if the rumors about you leaving Konoha were true or false; I can't trust you," Sakura snapped. If she said her own name, Sasuke would be growing suspicious. He stood up, and she slightly cowered. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna take a walk."

"Hey, take me with you. I'm probably gonna get a beating if I go back alone."

"Hn."

Sakura took that as a 'fine', and followed behind him.

~.~.~

It was quite a peaceful morning stroll, despite Sakura's tantrum earlier. It was summer after all. The morning was warm and moist. Birds and cicadas began to chirp as the sun rose over the horizon. This was a relaxing sound for Sakura to calm down and let go of her anger. She breathed in the air, which smelled of dew and grass.

Almost like the sun's rays absorbed her grief, her usual lively mood returned once more. It was quite strange of her to change moods so quickly. She was a Blood A type. It was probably her sensitivity…

Taking walks weren't Sakura's interests, but it was satisfying and relaxing.

"Hey, uh…"

No response.

"Sorry about screaming at you."

He still didn't look at her, but acknowledged her apology with a smirk.

"It's not funny, Uchiha!" She poked his thigh hard. "I'm trying to give you a genuine apology, sheesh…" Ayame pouted, crossing her arms. "Do you take walks every morning? After you train?" Sasuke nodded. "Oh! Can I go with you every morning?"

His head turned to Ayame. "Why?"

"Because this relaxes me and gets rid of my frustration or anger," she replied. "Well… that depends on how I act before I come here, of course." Her emerald eyes shined in the sunlight. "This also satisfies me too. I can at least see the sun come up every morning."

They made it out of the forest and were now looking over a plain of tall grass. The grass was very green and flowed with the warm summer breeze. Sakura crouched, staring at the view. "Can we come here whenever we're going for walks?" Sasuke shrugged. "There you go again… Giving me a shrug as an answer…" But she was too dazed to resume her upcoming lecture. The rising morning sun, the smell of dewy grass, the sound of chirping cicadas, and the breeze overwhelmed her with happiness. "I love this view. It's so… amazing."

Sasuke glanced at Ayame's frame. She seemed very joyful, almost like she was about to laugh. Her face and eyes had a faint gold glow from the sunlight. His eyes softened, He realized the time and turned around.

"It's time to go back."

"But I don't want to," Sakura murmured. "I don't want to walk away from this!"

It only took one word to take her back to the hideout. "Breakfast?"

As if on cue, her stomach growled. "I hate it when you say that at the wrong time…" She kept mumbling about the scenery and breakfast until they reached the dining rooms.

Once again, Sakura was silent around Orochimaru and Kabuto. She refused to answer their questions any further, only lowering her head. Sasuke was impressed. She was able to become the opposite of a lively little girl. When they reached his room again, she became regained her personality again. He would hear her complain about Orochimaru and, once in a while, Kabuto.

Today's complaints were directed to Kabuto.

"Okay, I know that he said he's a medic, but I do NOT want him near me," Ayame snapped. "His aura gives me a "Don't worry; I'll make it quick and _painful_" feeling." She waved her arms about, continuing her package of complaints for _one shinobi_. Sasuke wasn't listening to her, because she was mostly talking to herself. "I mean, it's supposed to be quick and painless! How can quick and painful go together?"

It took a few more minutes until Ayame wasted her energy complaining. She didn't have enough to say anything else anymore. Sasuke was slightly relieved. "Are you done now?"

"No, but I don't wanna talk anymore," Sakura drawled. "So do you have other plans for today?" The Uchiha didn't answer. "Oh, wait! Let me guess!" She took a sarcastic second to think. "Training and more training, right?" She smacked her forehead, wondering if he _ever_ took a whole day off. "I swear, if you faint somewhere from fatigue and exhaustion, it's not my fault."

Sasuke kept silent, cleaning the blade of his sword. It was hours until Ayame started groaning and scoffing.

He suddenly spoke up, "You want to go outside again, don't you?" He lifted his eyes from the weapon. "If I let you go outside, you'd escape again."

"Dude, do you read my mind or something?"

"It's obvious."

"Ugh, well, even if I tried, someone is bound to catch me." Sakura fell on her futon. "I can't run very fast because I'm six." She pouted. "Just like how that stupid ninja captured me…" Hoping her depressed mood would convince Sasuke to let her out, she continued murmuring to herself.

"Do you want to go outside that badly?"

"Duh! Seriously, don't these Sound Ninjas, plus you, do _something _outside every day? Exclude the training part!" Sakura exclaimed. Her shoulders slumped, her depressive mood returning. "Please? I won't escape." Sasuke stepped off his bed again, turning to her. "Are you giving me permission or are you going to knock me down?" Sasuke didn't reply but took a step toward the door. Sakura took that as 'permission granted'. She skipped outside, but heard a tap behind her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going with you."

"I'm not gonna escape!"

Sasuke raised a brow, skeptical of that protest. He walked behind Ayame, keeping his guard up. _"Yeah, I can't take your word for it,"_ he thought. And he was right. Once they went outside, she made a break for it, but he caught her by the shirt collar. Ayame scoffed. "If you keep this up, you might never go outside."

Now that made Sakura panic. If she was stuck in an underground tunnel without any sunshine, her skin would become very pale and weak. "F-fine." Sasuke let her go, and she pouted. "That was an unfair play, Uchiha."

"So you're calling me as "Uchiha" now?"

"Yeah, got a problem?"

"Hn." He constantly glanced at Ayame, in case she'd try to escape again.

Sakura thought it was time to give up. She's going to be stuck in "Ayame's" body until some other phenomenal force counters her technique. Until that happens, she can't escape this fate and body. As they arrived to the same location they came in the morning, Sakura exhaled. "How about a deal?"

Sasuke glanced at her. "What now?"

"I'll stay here, and I will NOT escape until _YOU_ let me go," Sakura stated. She unconsciously touched her leather collar behind the shirt's collar. "But, in exchange, you have to let me do whatever I want…" A thought came up. "Don't worry, I won't attack you. You'd probably knock me out instantly if I tried." She saw that there was some interest in the Uchiha's expression. "Deal?"

"What makes you think I can trust you?"

"Are you really that slow-minded?" Sakura grunted. "Compare my strength, speed, powers, senses, and chakra amount to yours. You're obviously gonna catch me the moment I step outside your room to escape!" She arched her head up to the towering Uchiha. "So how about it? Deal?" He didn't answer. She slapped his wrist. "Well?"

"Tell me what you want to do if I accept this deal." Sasuke crossed his arms, curiosity flickering across his face.

"Well, as time passes, more things might come up," Sakura remarked, smirking. "But for now, I want to go outside whenever I want. Early in the morning or night, midnight, or afternoons… anytime I want to go outside for as long as I want." She crossed her arms, her expression firm. "Again… How about it? Do we have a deal?"

"Fine."

"Now I'm satisfied…" Sakura commented. She paused. "… Except for the fact that I have to be stuck here until you let me go."

"You're really annoying."

That phrase took her back to the time when they were alone on the pathway to the Konoha gates.

"_I really love you more than anything, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, her tears streaming down her cheeks. She had finally confessed with true words directly to Sasuke. She grasped her hands together, as if praying to herself that Sasuke would change his mind. "So please… don't leave…"_

"_You're really annoying," Sasuke responded, smirking. He turned his back toward her again and took another step._

The flashback that haunted her this morning had returned again. Her hand shot up to her head, hoping that it will disappear in her trembling hand.

"Sick?"

"No, I'm fine," Sakura reassured. "It's nothing to worry about." But she was lying. The event that took place that night had frightened her ever since Sasuke's betrayal. Whenever that would come up at the most worst times, she'd break down. And a few of those worst times were when she was on missions, which gave her teammates the wrong idea. She cried in front of her friends and her parents. It wore off until Naruto left with Jiraiya to train for… who knows how long Naruto will be out of Konoha? They came back, but it didn't affect her as much as the past.

Sasuke constantly glanced at her as time passed. Ayame seemed a bit paler than usual, and he thought he saw something flare in her eyes for a moment. Was he imagining things? He shook his thoughts away as the sun shined at his face.

"You should really get some sun, you know." Sakura fell back on the warm grass as small daisies tickled her arms. "You actually get part of your energy from the sun, and you might grow frail if you're underground too long." She giggled. "I mean, if you were stuck under there for a year without getting out, you can't even face the sun's rays that reflects on trees!" There was no answer. "Hey, I'm talking to yo-!"

Sasuke was gone. Her eye twitched but held her anger down.

"Sheesh… Talk about being rude…" she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "He left while I thought he was there, dammit!" She rolled across the grass, cooling her exposed skin. Then, she looked back at the sun. "Does that mean he trusts me?" Shrugging to herself, she played around in the grass, along with the flowers and ladybugs.

After a few hours of playing under the sun, she leaned on a large tree, feeling its cool shade from the sun. Sakura didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay there until the whole day ended. And she was with Sasuke, the boy whom she loved so much back then. Perhaps she still loved him, but not as much as before.

Maybe that's what her dreams… her flashbacks… meant. She still loved him, but her hope for him is starting to fade. The thought made her feel sad.

A tear slipped down her cheeks. She wiped it away, smirking sadly. "I'm crying, huh?" She was going through all the memories of Team 7: Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Hoping that no one would see her cry, she climbed up the tree to a large branch. Sakura gripped her chest, choking on a sob.

"My heart hurts…"

~.~.~

_A/N: What will happen to Sakura? Is it a serious situation? LOL, not really. If you love Japanese songs, the next chapter is going to include a song I just heard about. It kinda of matches Sakura's condition on her love life. I will also post a link to a video that influenced the next chapter._


	3. Sorrowful Words Revealed

_A/N: Yes, another chapter in such short time! xD This one is a bit shorter, because this is a song chapter. But enjoy! [Edit: Okay, everyone, I reconstructed this whole chapter, because I agreed with many reviewers that it was a bit too quick for Sasuke to figure out Sakura's identity. So I fixed the whole thing.]_

_By the way, you should totally see this Ikarishipping video (I recently got into ShinjixHikari [PaulxDawn]) by dianasuwamoto. She is also a fanfic author in FF. I'll post the video link and her page at the bottom. You should listen to the song while reading the lyrics though. :D It brings out the atmosphere and how Sakura feels._

_Disclaimer: I don't own __IkariShipping [Monochroact PV]__ or Naruto. This belongs to __**dianasuwamoto**__, then Masashi Kishimoto._

_Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to __**Suwamoto**__ for inspiring me with her video.___

**空の絆：****A Sky's Bonds****  
CH ****3****:**** Sorrowful Words - Revealed**

Sakura gripped her shirt, where her heart was beating painfully. "My heart hurts…" Another tear escaped her eyes as she gritted her teeth to prevent a loud sob.

"_I want to express my words aloud so much right now!"_ she thought._ "I feel so shattered!"_ She felt more and more pain rising in her chest. A lullaby suddenly played in her head – a lovely song that her mother sang. The melody seemed saddening, but her mother's words in the song made it more comforting and brighter.

Thinking about those comforting words in the song, she hummed it to herself to calm her down. But it didn't quite work the way she wanted it. She hummed the introduction, soon singing the introduction.

"_Ooh… Aahh…"_ she repeated it three more times. _"Ooooh…" _

_Wasurete yukeru donna kizu sae [I can Forget any Wounds that were In the Past]_

_Akireru hodo utsukushi ku [No Matter How Astounding or Beautiful]_

_Nemutta mama no kokoro ga itamu [My Heart is Sleeping with a Fatal Wound]_

_Gimon dake ga me wo sama su [With only Doubts in my Eyes as I Wake Up]_

**A picture of Sasuke in the past and the present appeared in her mind.**

_Onaji kao wo shita ai wa iranai [I Won't Fall for You]_

_Kagami no naka no koi wa maboroshi [Inside the Mirror, Love is an Illusion]_

_Azayaka na kako, Yasahii kotoba [Vivid Pasts, Words of Sympathy]_

_Sonna yume yori dare ka ima shinjitsu wo [Instead of a Dream, Someone Tell Me the Truth]_

_Kudasai [Please…]_

**Sakura shook her head violently, wondering why she fell in love with such a person!**

**She saw herself facing away from Sasuke, as he did the same.**

**They were seemingly looking like they didn't know the other existed and walked away from each other.**

_Ah, dare mo inai konna sekai de [Ah, There's Nobody in this Lonesome World]_

_Watashi wa naze naiteiru no? [Why Am I Crying?]_

**Tears were now streaming down her cheeks as rivers. She choked on another sob, desperately trying to prohibit any from escaping her throat.**

**Her world was empty, because Sasuke had left Konoha – the village where she enjoyed her life with him before he left.**

**She slowly got used to the emptiness, but whenever she thought of Sasuke, she broke into tears.**

_Miageru sora wa haruka na kodoku [The Sky Above is Far Beyond the Solitude]_

_Tada iki ba no nai omoi no sugata [My Love Has No Place to Return to]_

**Sakura felt like her hope and love for the teammate she once loved was fading.**

_Mune ga itai [My Heart Hurts]_

**Her heart thumped painfully once more, as more tears flowed down her warm cheeks.**

**The words kept coming to her heart to sing them automatically.**

**She couldn't stop her words or the flashback that returned to haunt her.**

_Onaji iro no naka wo [Crawling in the Same Space]_

_Oyagi tsuzukeru ishiki [My Conscious Continues to Swim]_

"_**Why won't you tell me anything? Why do you always stay silent? Why won't you say anything to me?"**_

_**Sasuke stopped walking. "Why should I tell you everything? It's none of your business. Stop concerning yourself with what I do."**_

_Imi no nai kotae to [A meaningless answer]_

_**Sakura knew it was fruitless to convince him, but she tried anyways. But no matter what, she received a meaningless answer. **_

"_**Don't leave! If you do, I'll scream!"**_

_**Sasuke disappeared and reappeared behind her.**_

_Shinri nagara uke irete [I knew that and accepted]_

**But Sakura didn't want to accept it that time. His answer was meaningless to her question and protests.**

**Later on, she hesitantly accepted the truth – his answer: Sasuke wanted power for revenge.**

_Anata wa [Are you…]_

_Shiawase? [Happy?]_

_Ah, sugi sarishi hi [Ah, the Passing Days]_

_Oki zari no uso [The Lies Left Behind]_

_Gimon darake no kao wo mita [I saw your doubtful face]_

**She went through the days with Team 7. The potential promises of staying together forever were broken and became into lies.**

**The memory of Sasuke brushing past her without a word now filled her mind. **

_**For a moment, as he passed her, Sakura thought she saw his face filled with doubt. Was that her imagination?**_

_Kore wa SHINJITSU? Kore wa MABOROSHI? [Is this REALITY? Is this an ILLUSION?]_

_Sashidasareru te ga watashi wo kowasu [The Hand Reaching to Me Breaks Me]_

_Mune ga itai [My Heart Hurts]_

**Sakura hummed, as teardrops fell from her chin. **

_Ah, aisaretai [Ah, To Love Someone]_

_Aishite mitai [Wanting to Be Loved]_

_Watashi wa dochira wo nozon da? [Which One Did I Choose?]_

"**I loved Sasuke-kun, but I wanted him to love me too."**

_Kizu tsuiteiru [Getting Hurt]_

_Kizu tsuketeiru [Hurting Others]_

_Sono dochira mo ikiru koto [Both of Those Means to Live]_

**Sakura remembered when Sasuke had hurt her. She remembered when he had hurt her. **

**It was that day when he left... When he hurt her.**

_Ah, hitori kiri no [Ah, I'm lonely]_

_Yoru wa ake nai [The Night Just Won't End]_

**In her heart, time had stopped from the moment Sasuke decided to leave.**

**Her heart was emotionally frozen starting from that night. Time hasn't continued for her.**

**She was still torn.**

_Kedo tashika na koto [But This is Certain that I'm Still]_

_Watashi wa ima mo sagashiteiru [Searching For The Love That Perhaps Didn't Exist]_

_Mune ga Itai [My Heart Hurts]_

"**Sakura… Thank you."**

It was now when Sakura finally sobbed… when she finally expressed all she wanted to say. "You… Stupid… Idiotic… Jerk!" she exclaimed through sobs. "I hate this…! I thought I got over you…" Her hand clenched into a fist, pounding the branch. "Why can't I get over you and move on?" Curling into a ball, she silently cried to herself. "Sasuke-kun…!"

~.~.~

Sasuke, meanwhile, was training once more, somewhat trusting that Ayame won't escape. Her words of taking a rest stuck to his mind, and he couldn't oppose to it. It was until now when he realized that there were some parts of his body that were aching like crazy (Literally, like hell)!

That was when he heard someone singing. The melody was heart-aching… so were the words. In curiosity, he approached a large tree where the song was coming from. No one was there, but the song was coming from somewhere.

"_This voice…"_ Sasuke recognized it. "Ayame."

Although her voice sounded grieving, he sat under the tree listening to her song. The words were somehow tugging at his heartstrings. He felt like he knew what the song meant, but he couldn't quite catch it.

_Imi no nai kotae to [A meaningless answer]_

_Shinri nagara uke irete [I knew that and accepted]_

_Anata wa [Are you…]_

_Shiawase? [Happy?]_

After that verse, something clicked in his head. The verse he heard so far already gave him a clue about Ayame. He decided to listen more to verify it.

When she came to the bridge, Sasuke was still suspicious. Something felt familiar.

But his train of thoughts was disrupted by her passionate song. She poured all of her emotions into it. Her voice had such a harmonious tone. He couldn't help, but keep listening until she finished. He closed his eyes.

_Ah, hitori kiri no [Ah, I'm lonely]_

_Yoru wa ake nai [The Night Just Won't End] _

_Kedo tashika na koto [But This is Certain that I'm Still]_

_Watashi wa ima mo sagashiteiru [Searching For The Love That Perhaps Didn't Exist]_

_Mune ga Itai [My Heart Hurts]_

Sasuke's eyes opened, exhaling. He envisioned memories that were related to her words.

"I hate this…!" A punching sound was heard. Now, the forest was silent, Ayame's silent weeping echoing in Sasuke's ears.

It was slowly becoming dusk, and he sighed. Ayame's weeping faded into complete silence. Sasuke sensed that she fell asleep. "Tch…" But he felt a bit sympathetic. He has never heard anyone about their feelings so strongly before. Actually, he never did hear her sing, but it was beautiful. Sasuke leapt to the tree branch, where she was curled into a ball, sleeping. "You… remind me of her…"

Ayame's eye twitched, her face scrunching up. Unconsciously, more tears began to fall.

Sasuke was slightly taken aback. "Why must you have to be captured here, of all places?" He shook his head, groaning.

Sighing, he picked little Ayame in his arms. "This is the stupidest thing you've ever done…" Sasuke brushed her hair to the side, and by the time he removed his hand, her expression was calm. It was as if his touch calmed her down. He grunted, taking her back to his room.

"Mmph…" Sakura groaned, her eyes fluttering open. It was dark. "Is it night already?"

"Yes, but you're in my room."

Her eyes snapped open, sitting up on her futon. "What the… Did you bring me here?"

Sasuke didn't answer, but glared at her.

"W-what?"

"What are you hiding from me?"

Fear was blazing in her eyes, but it was suppressed. "What are you talking about, Uchiha?"

"I'm talking about your identity," Sasuke answered coldly.

"What do you mean?"

"There's something I want to know."

Sakura was panicking. _"D-did he figure me out?"_ Did something give him a big clue? "If you do, then who am I?"

"I don't know, but you remind me of… her," Sasuke murmured.

"Her?" Sakura asked.

"Her name's…" Sasuke hesitated. "Her name's Sakura…"

She sighed. "Is… Is she someone you know?" Her hands lifted the blanket over her body, trembling inside it.

Sasuke didn't reply for a moment. "Hn."

"Are you going to answer me or not?"

"Yes, she's my former teammate."

Sakura grimaced under the covers. _"I'm his former teammate, huh?"_ She bit her lower lip. "And how do I remind you of her?"

"Your song reminds me of her," Sasuke replied. He stared at the lumpy covers. "Are you related to her or are you very close with her?"

She was silent. _"Well, I am Haruno Sakura after all."_ Taking a deep breath, Sakura calmed herself down. _"'Ayame' probably looks a little like me, so…"_ She firmly set her mind straight. "Sakura is my cousin."

"_What?"_ Sasuke's voice became sharp. "You're her cousin?"

"Yes…" Sakura paused. "Since my parents passed away, my new name is Haruno Ayame." She blinked. "Sakura-Nee told me about you, Uchiha. She told me about your illicit departure from Konoha, your agreement to join Orochimaru, and how you tried to kill Naruto-Nii." Sakura swore she felt tears threatening to surface. She kicked the covers off her. "Until now, why would I want to tell you that Sakura-Nee was my cousin? For all I've heard about you, you could kill me! Actually, you can go ahead and kill me now!"

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed. "You're just as annoying as her…"

That did it. The tears started falling. Sakura gritted her teeth, unable to hold in her frustration. "What's so annoying about me? What's so annoying about her? What's your problem, Uchiha?"

Sasuke continued to stare at the little girl before him. Again, she reminded him _so much_ of Sakura, that he couldn't stand it. "What am I going to do with you…?"

Sakura's patience meter has broken. Clenching her fist, she ran over to him, her open hand waving around sharply in the air.

Sasuke stared at her, blank. The little girl soon crouched, her head hidden behind her arms.

"Ugh, I hate you so much!"

He realized that she has meant to slap him. But this place was not a good place to let anyone hear her throw a tantrum. Sasuke grabbed her and teleported. They arrived in an isolated area, where the trees seemed to form a small crater around it.

Ayame jumped down, punching him in the stomach as hard as she could. He winced, pain shooting through his nerve system. "Why aren't you killing me? I'm a Konoha villager and Sakura-Nee's cousin! I'm on her side, and yet…!" She fell to her knees. "… And yet, you're not even giving me a scratch!" Tears began to fall from her eyes. "Why?"

Sasuke groaned silently, his hand covering his face. "I'm not going to kill you, but that's all I'm going to say!" He didn't want to or plan to kill her. Something was just preventing his instincts to erase her from this world. Or rather, he didn't have or had any intention of killing Ayame. He gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath afterwards. "Are you done?"

"Yes…" Ayame choked through a sob.

An idea popped up in Sasuke's head, but he wasn't very fond of the attitude. "I need you to answer a few questions."

"It's not like it's going to help our situation right now!"

Sasuke shook his head, kneeling down to Ayame's level. "First, how did you get here?"

"Sakura-Nee was on a mission and I followed her!"

"Why would you follow her?"

Ayame perked up. "Because I was curious about what mission she was doing this time!"

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "You are so stupid! Hasn't Konoha Academy or the teachers ever teach you _not_ to go outside the Konoha gates?" Why was he getting so worked up over a child escaping her village to see her cousin's mission?

"I don't care! Just shut up!"

"Again, you might never get out of here…"

"UNTIL YOU RELEASE ME!"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"If I do, in front of Orochimaru, you'd either die or be thrown into the dungeons." Sakura shuddered at the thought. "My last question: Do you want to make a deal?"

Sakura raised her head, becoming interested. "What kind of deal?"

Sasuke hesitated, because he was _**NOT**_ the type to make these kinds of deals. "I never figured out your identity, but in return… You have to stick with me and stop trying to escape."

"Why do I have to do that?"

His cold stare emerged, causing Sakura to cower. "Because if you don't, suspicions will rise and you might be killed."

"Can't I just act like how I used to before all this happened?" Sakura returned back to her old self again. Well… the Ayame self that insulted Sasuke behind Orochimaru's back. A thought appeared in her mind. "Unless…" she trailed off, smirking. "You have a soft spot for children?"

Sasuke's onyx eyes glared into her green eyes. "_No._"

"Ugh, it's just a joke, dude," Sakura mumbled. "So you want me to submit to you as your servant? Sure, I can _ACT_."

"Hn."

Sakura recalled on one of her questions. "But… even if you pretend that you didn't know I was Sakura-Nee's cousin, won't you still act more differently than you usually did? Because… You know… I'm the cousin of someone you know very well."

"Your point?"

"You were _really_ indifferent and apathetic to me, yet, you were so gentle too. So now that you know my identity, you're going to start treating me differently."

"That could be changed," Sasuke murmured.

"Huh?"

Sasuke only jerked his head to his right, facing away from Sakura. He received another ranting from her, and he smirked.

~.~.~

_Mune ga Itai [My Heart Hurts]_

~.~.~

_A/N: Phew, well, this was shorter than my usual chapters. And the plot has developed a bit more quickly than I thought it would. ^^" Ah, well, there's going to be tons of other chapters anyways. :] Oh yeah, the scenes I put in between the lines of the song were inspired by __**Suwamoto**__-san's Ikarishipping sketches._

_.com/watch?v=efLxijE0A6I_

_It's like just… SO AWESOME! *squeals*_

_.net/~suwamoto_


	4. Goodbye, Rei Nii

_A/N: Hey, guys! I'm sorry if the update was a bit late. ^^" And I apologize if this chapter was short too. T^T _

_Note (August 14): Oh yeah, heads up, guys! If you're one of the reviewers who thought Sasuke found out Sakura's true identity too fast, I reconstructed the third chapter! So if this chapter seems confusing, I understand. Read Chapter 3 again. Sorry! 3_

**空の絆****: Bonds of the Sky****  
CH ****4****: ****Goodbye, Rei-Nii**

It felt like a long night for Sakura. The fact that Sasuke figured out that she was her own cousin immediately had shocked her.

Fear had enveloped her the whole night, which caused her to be deprived of sleep.

"Wake up." Sasuke's voice echoed in her ears. "Oi, are you awake?"

"Mmph…" Sakura pulled the blanket over her face, trying to block out his voice.

"I'm guessing you didn't get enough sleep last night…?"

"Mhm." Sakura nodded, about to fall into unconsciousness again.

"Ayame, wake up." This time, Sasuke shook her by the shoulder. She didn't budge, but now she was snapped awake. "Are you scared…?" Silence was in the atmosphere. "Tsk, I'll let you sleep for a few more minutes, but be fully awake before I finish showering." Sasuke went inside the restroom and closed the behind him. The sound of a faucet twisting was heard, and then splattering water was heard.

Sakura blinked, sitting up from her futon. _Will he really keep his deal?_ she thought. _I'll just have to find out._ She stood up and fixed her futon while staring at the restroom door. "Fine, you win. I'm awake. Are you happy now?"

"Hn," was heard from the restroom.

Sakura was fuming, her fists trembling. "Sasuke, of all responses, that's the most immature reply I've heard yet. Well, actually, I've been hearing that a LOT from you, so pretty much, all your replies are immature."

"Since when did you start calling me Sasuke? I thought I was called 'Uchiha'."

"Oh yeah? Since when did you start calling me Ayame? You never even called me by name before…" Sakura tilted her head. "… Right?" She heard a groan from Sasuke. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So what do you want me to do today?"

"Who knows…?"

"Don't you have a schedule to follow or something? Yesterday might have been your free day or something – because of me – but won't you have to follow something today?"

"You just have to do whatever I say."

"Okay, then, what do you want me to do?"

"Just follow me around until I say otherwise."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sure… That would be like… the end of the day – when we're going to sleep!" She pouted, her brows furrowing. She didn't want to follow him around all day, but she had no choice unless she wanted to sign her own death warrant. "Can you at least tell me anything else you want me to do other than follow you around?" Silence. "Fine, tell me after you shower or something."

After 5 minutes, Sasuke came out… T-O-P-L-E-S-S!

Sakura's eyes widened and she bolted for the wall. "Why are you topless? I SWEAR you had a shirt on before you slept!"

"Why is it that bad for me to be topless?"

"I'm six-years-old! People can get the wrong ideas!" Sakura exclaimed, red in the face. She was lucky that the room was dark. "I-I mean, why did you even come out topless?" There was silence. "Hey, Uchiha, why aren't you answering me?" Again, silence ensued. "Hell-! Kyah!" She was suddenly grabbed by the waist and lifted in the air. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"Just stay still," Sasuke's breath hit her ear, and it sent chills down her spine. Sakura felt Sasuke sit on his bed, but was still embraced by his arm. Then, his other arm embraced her, pulling her into a hug.

"H-How can I stay still when you're doing something like this?" Sakura squirmed, trying to pry Sasuke's arms off her. But being a little girl, he was much too strong for her. Not only that, she was deprived of her chakra by the collar around her neck. She felt his head rest on her shoulder. "What are you doing now?"

Suddenly, the door opened. A random Sound Ninja found himself staring at the scene in front of him. "U-uh, I'm very sorry, Sasuke-sama!" With that, the doors were immediately slammed shut.

"Oh great! Now someone found you doing this to a poor six-year-old!" Sakura smacked his head. "You idiot!" She felt her being set back on the floor. Then, Sasuke put on his shirt. Suddenly, she felt like bricks had fallen on her. "Oh… So that's why you did that…"

"Hn, well, you're slow."

"Hmph!" Sakura jerked her head to the side, crossing her arms. "Well, excuse me; I'm still studying in the Academy. My senses aren't as sharp as you, who have graduated from the Academy, had the guts to leave Konoha, and nearly killed Naruto-Nii!" she hissed as quietly as possible.

Sasuke shook his head, glaring at her.

"Oops…" Sakura squeaked. "Sorry, sorry, please don't hurt me!" She heard a low chuckle. "What the… Did… Did you just laugh?"

"…" Sasuke blinked. "No."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Bleh! Meanie…" Once again, she suddenly felt herself being lifted. "Oh no, not again…" But instead, she was placed on Sasuke's arm. "Uh… What are you doing now?"

"Don't ask. Just stay quiet." Sasuke walked out the door. _If that Sound Ninja found me doing that, he's definitely going to tell Orochimaru. If so, then I must be found doing something like this… right?_ He stepped into the lighted hallways, his eyes squinting at the sudden burning sensation. Sakura yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Tired?"

Sakura nodded. Because of this twisted hideout, I'm getting used to the dark rooms. "You don't mind if I fall asleep for just a little while, right?"

"Yes, I would mind, so don't fall asleep."

"Ugh, fine." Sakura stifled a yawn. "So I have to follow this schedule every day?" She was then answered with silence. "Hmph." She pouted.

They arrived to the dining halls, where only a few people were eating. Sasuke and Sakura got the same food from yesterday.

"Ah, it's Rei-Nii!" Sakura's eyes gleamed with relief and joy. She looked up at Sasuke hopefully. _Please let me eat with him!_ she thought. She received an approved nod. She grinned and ran over to Rei. "Rei-Nii, hi!"

"Hey, Ayame," Rei replied. "Is that Uchiha guy treating you alright?"

Sakura shrugged. "Somewhat. He doesn't abuse me, that's for sure."

"Well, from the last time I was here, he's not the type to have slaves." Rei turned to Sakura. "Maybe he has a soft spot for you?"

Sakura laughed nervously, waving that hypothesis away. "That's impossible, Rei-Nii! If he did, he'd be releasing me safely right now."

"But if you do… You know what would happen right?"

"Unfortunately, I do," Sakura admitted. "But I wonder how long I'll have to be here…"

"Who knows… You know, I-!" But the crack of a whip was heard and Rei grunted loudly in response.

"R-Rei-Nii!" Sakura looked behind him to find a man holding a whip! "What did you do that for?"

The man ignored her. "I thought I told you to eat faster! I don't have all day, you useless slave!" He whipped Rei again, receiving another grunt. "You're still holding your ground, huh? When will you learn…?" He raised his whip.

"Stop it!" Sakura ran behind Rei, holding her arms out. It was too late for her or the man to turn back now. Sakura was harshly whipped on the back. She tried to stifle a blood-curdling scream by biting her lips. Unfortunately, she bit it too hard so blood trickled down to her chin. _It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!_ she yelled in her mind.

Rei turned his head to look at Sakura. There was blood was trickling down her lips. "A-Ayame! What did you do?"

"I'm sorry, Rei-Nii… But I can't stand it when someone gets hurt right in front of my eyes!" Sakura grit her teeth, trying to fight the pain. She rolled her eyes. "But, hey, at least I know how a whipping feels like, right?"

"Hey, he's my slave, brat! Move over!" It turns out that the man didn't know Ayame was Sasuke's slave. "If you don't move over in three seconds, I'll whip you instead!" After the said time passed, the man grinded his jaws together. "You asked for it." He raised his whip and brought it down on Sakura's back again.

Sakura bit the other side of her lower lips. Blood trickled down again. She couldn't take this; she had to stop it! Just when she turned, the whip was going to be brought down again. Just when it did, her hand shot out, attempting to grab it. Luck was on her side. Her hand grabbed the end of the whip.

"Ayame, stop!" Rei shook her shoulders. "At this rate, you'll be killed!"

"Don't underestimate me, even if I _am_ a six-year-old!" Suddenly, the whip flung her towards the other tables. _Oh shit!_ She expected pain to be inflicted everywhere on her body, but she felt something soft instead. Her eyes opened, wondering if she'll find herself in heaven. But she wasn't; she was in Sasuke's arms! "Huh…?" She tried to move, but the pain on her back prevented her from doing so.

"Don't move." Sasuke carried her like how a mother would cradle a newborn baby. "Where's the medics?" In a moment, two medic ninjas came over, examining Sakura's injuries. Meanwhile, Sasuke was being apologized to.

"I-I didn't realize she was yours, Sasuke-sama! P-please don't kill me!"

"Hn, you're not the person I long to kill…" Sasuke murmured. He turned to Sakura, who was finished with her examination. "So how is she?"

"She will be fine. Her wounds should probably heal by tonight." The medic ninja stared at Sakura's injuries for a while. "The wounds could've gotten worse, and it's best for her to stay away from these situations."

"How… can I do that…?" Sakura weakly mumbled. "They're hurting the people I care about…"

"I told you not to move." Sasuke swiftly brushed past others and entered his room. He slowly set her on her futon. "Must you have to cause trouble like that?" He glared at her with venom in his eyes and tone. But in his mind, there were questions flying about. _How could she face up to him like that? How can she have enough courage to take a whipping for another slave? How could she not cry? That whipping should've felt like hell!_ He calmed himself. "Wasn't the whipping painful?"

"Of course, it was!" Sakura crossed her arms. "But if I cried, I would've looked weak!"

Sasuke stared at her in surprise. _This kid is not so stupid, after all,_ he thought. "Well, promise me this: Never do that again."

"B-but, he hurt Rei-Nii!"

"It won't matter for him now." Sasuke averted his gaze to the door. "They'll probably throw his master in the dungeons. He's going to be a free person now."

"Th-That's great!" Sakura exclaimed. "Wow, maybe Orochimaru does have a bit of a human heart underneath all that creepy snake stuff."

"If you have a message you want to give him, then you should do it now. I hear he's going to be freed this afternoon."

"Wait, but… if he's going to be freed, won't he reveal this location?"

Sasuke nodded. "Obviously, but unfortunately, Orochimaru's always planning a step ahead…" He squatted in front of her. "We'll probably be moving to another location by tonight."

"This… afternoon?" Sakura stood up, but the pain from her back made her collapse on her knees. "No, no, that's… That can't be happening!"

"Unless you have a message to give him, you should go now."

"Where is he?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows…" He saw Sakura stand up.

She grabbed his wrist. "Please! I want to tell him! I want to tell him to tell my friends that I'm okay!" She shook his wrist. "Please, Sasuke!" Sakura was desperate; she knew that Naruto and Kakashi must be worried sick! "Sasuke, please take me to Rei-Nii! He's my only hope of telling my friends I'm okay!"

Sasuke stared at Sakura apathetically. But inside, he was showing a small smirk. He gently picked Sakura up and went out. He tried to sense Rei's chakra. "That guy's outside already."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sakura, unaware of her actions, embraced Sasuke's neck. When she _did_ become aware, her arms quickly retreated. "Uh… S-sorry."

"Hn. You shouldn't be worrying about that right now. Worry about him." Sasuke gestured with his head. There was Rei, sitting in front of a tree. He sensed for any present chakras. Fortunately, there weren't any. But just to be safe… "Oi, Rei." Sasuke came over. "She was you to deliver a message, but I don't think this is the right place to talk." He grabbed Rei and Sakura, taking them to an isolated place.

"Ayame? What did you want me to deliver?"

Sakura beckoned him to bend to her level. She whispered in his ear, "Can you tell the Hokage-sama that Haruno is doing fine?" She smiled. "Tell them exactly that; don't change anything. That's the name I like to go by."

Rei smiled. "I promise. I'll make sure it gets to Konoha, Ayame."

"Thanks." Before anything else could've happened, Sakura hugged Rei. "I'm really gonna miss you, Rei-Nii." She felt Rei's warm hand place itself on her hair.

"Me too." Rei was silent for a second. "You know, if we ever cross paths once again, you better not forget me."

Sakura felt a grin work its way on her frame. "I won't."

"By the way, how are your wounds? Doesn't it hurt like crazy?"

"Of course it does! But I'm fighting the pain as much as I can!" Sakura smiled, holding up a thumbs-up. "I'll be fine by tomorrow!"

"That's great, Ayame. Oh yeah…" Rei bent down again to Sakura's level. He whispered, _"I meant to tell you before, but right now would be the perfect time. What's your real name? I've already figured out that you're not your age."_ He smirked at her reaction. _"So what's your real name?"_

"My new mom's name is Haruno Kiku! I have a cousin whose name is Haruno Sakura!" She held up two fingers. "Sakura-Nee's 14 and she is REALLY strong!"

"Huh, she's 2 years younger than me." Rei smirked again. "Perhaps I should ask her on a date once I get to Konoha."

"Hurry up. I don't have all day."

Rei glanced at him and chuckled. "Alright. Well, bye, Ayame. I hope to see you soon."

Sakura was blushing, but she soon composed herself. Before she could say anything, Sakura and Rei were taken back by Sasuke.

"Me too. Bye, Rei-Nii." She felt tears stinging her eyes. Rei was the only person in the hideout she could open up to. With that, they returned back to Sasuke's room. "I'm gonna miss him…"

"What did he ask you when he was whispering?"

"He asked about my family. He wanted to deliver the message to them too…" Sakura blinked. "I hope they're doing fine…"

~.~.~

Rei was finally freed and he was left to run off on his own. "I'm finally free!" But first, he had to go to Konoha. He made a promise to Sakura that he'll deliver a message to the Hokage and her mother. "You can depend on me… Sakura."

After long hours of running, he finally made it to Konoha.

There were guards outside the Konoha gates.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Rei. I have a message for the Hokage and it's urgent!" Rei was panting. "Please, it's a message from one of the kunoichi who lives here!"

"Who are you?" A female voice appeared behind the guards. She had blonde hair, fair skin, brown eyes, and… large breasts. "What did you say just now?"

"Are you the Hokage?" Rei choked. "I heard that the Konoha's Hokage was a young woman named Tsunade."

"Yes, I am the Hokage. Again, what did you say that you had?"

"I have a message from a kunoichi who lives here!" Rei panted again. "Her name is Haruno Sakura! Do you know her?" The way Tsunade's eyes widened gave him a good answer. "I have a message from her to you."

"Let him in." Tsunade observed Rei for a moment. "Alright, come with me."

They arrived to the Hokage building.

Tsunade sat in her chair, her attention focused on Rei. "So what was her message?"

"She told me that she was doing fine." Rei bit his lip. "I deeply apologize for my rudeness, but why did she want me to deliver that message?"

"Sakura probably knew she might be depicted as a missing Nin, so she asked you to deliver it." Tsunade smiled. "That girl is very intelligent, Rei. The message she delivered was not intended to be said directly. It's a coded message."

"What do you mean?"

"She's trying to say that she was not, by any means, betraying our village." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "But what's interesting me is why she said that. What happened, Rei?"

"Sakura was captured by the Sound! It was that Orochimaru bastard!"

"What did you say?"

"That Orochimaru bastard got one of his minions to capture Sakura and she's in their hideout right now."

"She hasn't tried to escape?"

"She did! As much as I could remember! She was only there for a day or two, but you _CANNOT_ believe how many times she attempted to escape!" Rei composed himself, shaking every paranoid out of him. "Anyways, what I really want to tell you is that she's a slave there." Just when Tsunade was about to yell once more, he stopped her. "But she's a slave to Uchiha Sasuke. He doesn't seem to know her true identity yet."

"Wait, did you just say Uchiha _Sasuke_?"

"Yes, I've heard that he left this village to go to Orochimaru for something…" Rei trailed off. "A-anyways, this is the truth, but Sakura's really doing fine!"

"What happened to Sakura?"

"She must've used some transformation technique to become a six-year-old," Rei replied. "But, fortunately for her, Sasuke treats her like a sibling… somehow. Oh, not only that, she must have made up a background of her own. She said that she was Haruno Ayame, a cousin of Sakura's."

"This is bad…" Tsunade murmured. "Rei, which village are you from?"

"Me?" Fear flared across his eyes for a moment. "Well, you see, Hokage-sama, I don't have a village to live in…"

"What do you mean?"

"I was born as a stray. My family was travelers, but they somehow got injured very badly. My mother passed away after I was born. My father had managed to take care of me for a few minutes, and then passed away. My Nii-san took care of me since then. But he was also killed, so… yeah…" Rei laughed nervously. "H-Hokage-sama, my life story isn't really that important. What I need is your help, Hokage-sama!"

"Were you freed willingly or did you manage to escape?"

"I was… freed willingly." Rei knew where this was going. "No, please, Hokage-sama! You can't be thinking about not sending help!"

Tsunade stared at Rei sadly. "I'm sorry, Rei. But if you were freed, Orochimaru would've known you'd tell me. He must be preparing to move right now."

"B-but we have time!" Rei insisted. "I know this guy, Hokage-sama! I've been a slave in his hideout for more than you could think of! He ALWAYS moves at night!"

"Rei!" Tsunade called. "This situation is different! The Fire Country is large, so there's obviously more chances of getting caught! Orochimaru would move immediately if information like this have been leaked!" She sank in her chair, rubbing her temples. "There's nothing we can do, but wait, Rei." She bit her lower lips, but smiled. "But from what you told me, it feels Sakura will be safe anyways." She slightly chuckled. "This is… quite a turn of events…"

Rei blinked in surprise. "Ho-Hokage-sama, you are scaring me right now…"

~.~.~

_A/N: I'm so glad for summer vacation. :D I can catch up on updates quite easily._

_Oh, and if you're a reader of __Bleach Beat__ or __Connected By Will__, those two stories will be on Hiatus! I'm going to focusing more on __Mystique__, __The Diary of a Hyuuga__, and__空の絆__: Bonds of the Sky__. _


	5. New Life, Old Desires

_A/N: Hey, guys. I'll be writing this chapter in Sakura's point-of-view. Sorry if this chapter is much shorter than how much I usually write. I'm running out of motivation for my Naruto and Bleach stories. You can help by leaving a review of your ideas I could add in here or even a 'hi'._

**空の絆：****Bonds of the Sky****  
CH ****5****:**** New Life, Old Desires**

Sasuke was right. We were moving tonight. Orochimaru told Sasuke that they were going to relocate to another hideout. Oh joy…

It was only one o' clock and everyone was already packing. The other slaves were lining up again with chokers on their necks. Chains connected with each other's chokers.

I watched them line up one by one. Some struggled, but were beaten to submission. Would I have to do the same thing?

"Hey, do I have to do that too?" I tugged on Sasuke's pants, trying to get his attention. "Do I?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to be with them. May I, please?" Sasuke stared at me for a while. "Sasuke, just because I'm your _slave_ doesn't mean I _have_ to travel with you." He continued to stare, and it was scaring me. "What? Stop staring at me, bastard!" I stomped on his foot but I was the one to cringe in pain. I clutched my foot, hissing from the pain. "Damn you."

"Hn."

I swore I saw a smirk on his face, but it could've been my imagination. After a few minutes of rubbing the pain away from my foot, I stood up to Sasuke again. "Look, I'm going to be with them, got it?"

"I'm not stopping you, but I'm not taking the blame if you get whipped."

My eyes narrowed. "I'm not scared, Uchiha. If I took that previous whip without crying, I can take this one on with ease." Suddenly, an image of Rei appeared in my head. I wonder if he bid his grandmother farewell. "Hey, did Rei-Nii say bye to his grandmother?" Sasuke was silent. "W-what?"

"She passed away."

It was then when I felt like my heart stopped for a moment. "W-when?" The wound from this morning's whipping burned.

"The first day she came here."

_Thump._

"She passed away, right in front of his eyes, from shock …"

_Thump._

"… when she saw Rei being whipped."

How… how can Rei smile so innocently when his grandmother passed away the first day? His grandmother was the only family member he had left, and now she was gone. His heart must have been shattered. The wound felt like it opened but I don't think it did. "At least he tried to smile as if nothing happened, unlike you…"

"What?"

"Nothing." I shook my head and feigned a smile. "So I can be with the others, right?"

"Hn." Sasuke gestured me to follow him. "Do whatever you want. You have anything to pack?"

"My old clothes are tattered, so I have nothing to pack." I followed him back to his room. Currently, I'm worried about his stuff. He has _a lot_ of weapons to pack, and I am _pretty_ sure that he's going to cut his fingers if he handles them. Well… it's not like he's bad at packing weapons, but I have a bad feeling about that closet over there.

Sasuke looked around to see if anything was missing. I folded the futon and threw them on his bed. "Damn, if I wasn't so little, I'd be able to slam these at your face!" I saw him roll his eyes. I stuck out my tongue at him. "Bleh!" I hopped on the bed, swinging my legs back and forth. "So we're moving tonight, huh?" I sadly smiled. "I guess Naruto-Nii and Sakura-Nee won't be able to find me after all."

He stared at me with his usual deadpan eyes.

I chuckled to myself. "Oh well. You win some, you lose some." I fell backwards, the soft bed greeting my head. "But if it's here, it's 'You win none, you lose all.'" He smirked. "Yeah, I just made up a 'motto' of this stinkin' place." I hopped off the bed and made a beeline for his weapon closet. I felt Sasuke tense as I did so. "Oh relax. I don't even know how to use those swords in there. Senbons – yes – but there's no point in trying to attack you."

Sasuke was still tense.

"What's so wrong about me opening your weapon closet?" I touched the knob and opened the door. That's when Sasuke rushed towards me! But it was too late. The weapons piled on top of me! "Oh… This is why…" I was surprised that I wasn't cut from all these blades. If I move a muscle, I just might have to sign my own death warrant. Not only that, the wound hurt!

"Don't move." Sasuke carefully took one blade after another off of me.

"Any time now, Uchiha!" Does it take that long for him to take these off? Can't he just take them off me as a bundle? "Hello?"

"Don't _move_," he sharply hissed. "The ones in the bottom have poison in the blade. One scratch can be fatal for someone as young as you."

My eyes widened. "_P-poison?_" I hissed painfully through gritted teeth. "What kind of weapons does Snake Guy give you?" I knew Sasuke would be smirking, but I did not want to risk getting a fatal scratch.

The weapons were soon off me and I checked myself for any cuts. Nope. None. Nada. My wound was still stinging.

"Thank goodness," I breathed. Sasuke was putting the blades together. "Have you gotten cut by those too?" He showed me his hand. There were faint scars on the back. "O-oh. Do you use them?" He shook his head. "Then how did you get those scars?"

"It was an enemy's blade." He showed me a curved blade. "It's this one." I stared at him in horror.

"Y-you k-k-killed him?"

"No. _He_ took it and gave it to me." Sasuke rolled his eyes, sighing. "I don't even need this." He wrapped a fabric around the blades and tied it together.

"Then what's the point of keeping them?"

Sasuke shrugged and threw the sack on the bed. He looked around, nodded to himself, and sat on the edge of the bed. I sat near the corner of my bed, silent.

A few minutes passed and nothing much happened at all. I felt sleepy so I laid my head in my arms and fell asleep.

~.~.~

Luck is _so_ not on my side today.

I must've feel asleep for hours instead of minutes. When I woke up, I found myself on Sasuke's back! Ugh, how worse can this get? It's bad enough I'm with the boy I fell in love with!

"Oh brother…" I murmured.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah, so let me down." Sasuke crouched down and let me down. My god, my feet were dangling in mid-air when he crouched all the way down. "Unbelievable… You couldn't wake me up?" I walked beside Sasuke, pouting along the way.

"I'm just following what the medic ninja said. You need rest."

"Yeah, and I thought I asked you if I can be with the others. _You_ said yes." I pointed menacingly at him. "And you can go ahead. I can catch up."

"I'm not risking you getting beaten to death." Sasuke continued to walk beside me. He muttered under his breath, "Sakura's probably going to be more than despaired if she finds out you're dead. She has more than enough to deal with…"

"Say that again?"

"It's nothing."

I didn't take that. He thinks he can outsmart me with his muttering! Well, I heard all that! And all I can ask myself if this: Is he trying to imply that he cares about me? One way to find out.

"Do you care about Sakura-Nee?"

There was no reply.

"You better answer me or I'm gonna take that silence as a yes."

"I can't yes or no," he quietly breathed out. He faced away from me, but I smiled.

"Okay, I won't ask anymore." I giggled. I might see a different side of Sasuke someday. He started to walk faster, or maybe I'm walking slower? Just then, I spotted a bunny! "Ooh, bunny!" I quietly and carefully walked over to it. It was a brown bunny chewing on a small bundle of grass. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing, Ayame?"

"It's a bunny!" I smiled brightly at Sasuke. "It's so cute!"

"Leave it alone. You're going to scare it."

"Am not…"

"It's not my fault if we're left behind."

"So? You have sharp senses and speed. You can obviously catch up in time and ditch me, while I catch up by walking." I turned to the bunny again and found the area empty! "Aw…"

"I told you."

"Shut up."

"Let's get going."

"Okay…" I stood back up, but cringed at the wound from this morning. I bit my lower lip, suppressing a hiss. Sasuke raised a brow. "It's nothing. I'm still disappointed that… that the bunny ran away, you know?"

"… right…"

I stared at his moonlit frame, my eyes softening. "Did you always keep that tone around Sakura-Nee?"

He didn't reply. He just stared at the moon, and I swear I felt myself blush. "Come here." I looked up. "Didn't you hear me?" I hesitantly walked over to him. He crouched and placed his hand on my head.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

"Sorry for making you go through all this."

"Hey, I've been here for only a week. I'm pretty sure Hell hasn't come to take me yet."

"But you're only six."

"And yet I lost my family when I was younger." I sighed. "Look, Sasuke, I'm sure I might've upset you at that, but I'm away from my family at Konoha. I feel so empty without the same warmth my family gave me. All I feel right now is loneliness and emptiness." I guess it was time to release another part of my frustration again. This is hard to tell Sasuke, but who else can I rant at?

"Do you mean Sakura and her mother?"

"No! I'm talking about everyone in Konoha! Naruto-Nii, Sakura-Nee, Kakashi-Sensei, Tsunade-Sama, and everyone in the village is like my family! Do you know what it's like to be away from your friends and family?" I refused to meet Sasuke's eyes, but I was sure he was going to say that he knows what it feels like. But my situation was different. I was away from the friends and family that was living. His clan was murdered! It's different! "I miss my friends and family!"

I suddenly felt myself getting pulled. What the-? Sasuke was embracing me!

"W-w-what are you doing?" I tried to pull away, but he was too strong! "Oh, please… It's not like _this_ is going to change my mind about my impression of you being a selfish, cold-hearted jerk!" His embrace tightened. "Uchiha, what are you doing?"

"I can give you the warmth that you want. Do you think that would be enough for you?"

"What are you saying…?" I felt my face flush and tears were flowing down my cheeks.

Then, everything went black.

~.~.~

My eyes snapped open. Was that real or was that a dream?

I looked around. I was in a room. We must've arrived to the new hideout. How long was I asleep or unconscious? Moonlight was shining through a window, giving the room a small glow. Wait, there's a window? I sighed in relief. I can finally see the sunlight or the moonlight! Thank goodness!

But judging by the position of the moon, I guess it was a little past midnight. I attempted to sit up, but I stopped at the feel of fabric. I looked up and found Sasuke sleeping!

_Oh shit!_ Shivers went down my spine. _What am I doing? Why am I sleeping next to this idiot?_ I tried to get up, but something heavy trapped me! Oh my god, you're kidding me, right? Why is Sasuke's arm around me? Why am I so close to him like this?

But why must his sleeping face look _so_ innocent? It's academy years all over again! I'm falling for him _again_!

If that scene was a dream, then what does it mean? If it was real, Sasuke seriously needs to take bipolar pills. I recalled that event, but found it hard to believe it was real. I guess I still want Sasuke to love me.

_This hideout would be a new life for me, but my old desires still remain._

~.~.~

_A/N: I'm sorry for the late updates! T^T I was so busy working on my IkariShipping doujinshi on deviantART. I also apologize if this chapter was short…_


	6. Recurring Dreams

_A/N: This one will be in Sasuke's Point-Of-View. This chapter is going to be short. I'll explain why at the end of it. But I've tried to put in as much interesting things in here as possible! Sorry!_

**空の絆****: Bonds of the Sky****  
CH ****6****:**** Recurring Dreams**

It's been two months since we arrived to the new hideout. This time, it was an abandoned mansion. It had plenty of abandoned streets.

Ayame was still Ayame, but she seemed more mesmerized with the window we finally got. I always saw her looking out the window, watching the sky and the empty streets. Occasionally, she'd call my name and wave.

She'd come with me to train most of the time, but there are certain days when she "rather mope by the window". Sometimes, I just don't understand her.

I'm surprised at how I can actually deal with her… She rants at me everyday, tries to stomp on me (although she ends up hurting her own foot), and once in a while, she curses at me.

…

How does she even know those words? She has… a colorful vocabulary and knowledge of cursing… Did Sakura teach her that?

No, I doubt it.

~.~.~

"Ne, Sasuke!" Ayame shook me awake.

"What do you want?" Personally, I don't mind if she wakes me up. But it can get annoying when she shakes me too hard.

"I found a small village nearby! They have shops there!"

I rolled my eyes and went back to sleep again. That was until her words processed in my head. "You found _what_?" I hissed. If she found a village nearby, that means she stepped out of the mansion! "You went out of the mansion!"

"Relax, Sasuke. I told the guard that I was going to take a walk out of the mansion. I even told him that if I wasn't back in half an hour, he can go alert you." Ayame grinned. "Anyways, anyways, I found a village nearby and there are _so_ many different shops there!" She grabbed my wrist. "Can I go and buy some clothes? Can I? Can I?"

"Do you have any money?"

"Of course!" Ayame took out a lilac wallet from her pillow. "I've been saving up these past 2 months." She opened it, counting all the money she had. "I think I'll have enough to buy at least five clothes. So… can I go?"

"Are you sure there was a small village there?" If there was, there might be some weapon stores around…

"Of cour-!" she paused, "Yeah, yeah, I know. What if I run away? Remember the deal that I made with you? I won't escape until you release me." Ayame crossed her arms. "I intend to keep that deal too."

I blinked. "I wasn't really thinking about that…" I could understand why she thought about the deal though. "I was just planning to go with you."

Ayame blinked back. "Oh." She then pointed at me. "Do you have any money then?"

… Shit. Come to think of it, I never did shop much (even for weapons, since Orochimaru _stole_ them enemies he killed).

A smug smile spread across her face. "You don't have any money, don't you?" I only rolled my eyes, causing Ayame to laugh at my face.

"Well, if you're still planning to go, I'm gonna be in charge of today's activity: Shopping!"

My eyes narrowed. "There is no way I'm going to shop with you."

She poked me. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that if you want something, I'll try to pay for you." She grinned at me again. "So what do you say?"

…

Truthfully, I think Ayame is one of the strangest girls I've ever met. I nodded and we headed out immediately. We had to climb up a slightly steep hill. It only took a few minutes until we reached the small village she was talking about.

It seemed empty, but I did see shops and small restaurants ahead. "I don't think they'll open at this time of the morning."

"Huh?" Ayame looked up at me in confusion. "I didn't come here to shop yet. I just wanted to show you that!" She pointed straight ahead, where the sun was rising over the horizon. "Isn't it pretty?"

"I guess so."

"You have no appreciation of nature…" Ayame mumbled. "But isn't it refreshing? The sun's warm light washes the cold chills away." She looked back up at me, smiling. "I wish Sakura-Nee was here. She would've _loved_ to see this."

My eyelids lowered. That name always made me reminisce back to those times. It's unlike me, I know. But I've always felt that Sakura was… different. "Do you miss her?"

"Of course I do." Ayame still smiled. "But if she knew I was with you, I'm sure she knows I'll be safe."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing much, really." She sat on the grass, hugging her knees. "It's just that… you're like a big brother to me."

I was slightly taken aback. I didn't expect her to say anything like that. "A big brother?"

"Yeah… You protect me when I'm in danger, you sometimes help me with my training, and you also have a tendency to pat my head once in a while." Pat her head, she said? Did I really do that? "If I knew you were this nice from the start, I would've changed my view of you."

Hmmm… Her view of me? "What was your view of me?"

Ayame was silent. "A cold-hearted, ruthless, and emotionless jerk who had no respect for others." For a little girl like her, she sure knows how to use words. "But, I just think you're like an older brother." She looked back at me with a smile. "You don't mind if I think of you as an older brother, right?"

I stared at her for what seemed like the longest minute in my life. "Hn, I don't care."

Her smile grew wider. Strangely, her smile made me want to smile back.

But she reminded me so much of those times with Team 7, it almost chilled me down to the bone. Ayame looked so much like Sakura, I feel something hits me every time her image appears. Her too-bright attitude reminds me of Naruto, so I would act a bit cold towards her. When she's calm, she reminds me of Kakashi.

I've always hated those times. It was when I was distracted from the goal I wanted to accomplish: Kill Itachi. Team 7 distracted me so much that I almost forgot my purpose. Now, the feeling came back when Ayame came.

"Sasuke?"

I looked down when I felt her tug at my sleeves. "What?"

"Are you okay? Your face was scrunching a bit just now."

"It's nothing to worry about."

Ayame nodded, forgetting about what just happened. "Let's go back, unless you want to train."

"Why don't you go back? I'll be training."

"Okay. Bye." With that, she disappeared into the forest, going back to the hideout.

Again, she is one of the strangest girls I've ever met.

~.~.~

Breakfast was the same as usual.

Ayame was silent, even when Orochimaru was asking her a question. I would catch Kabuto glancing at her from time to time. Whenever he does, I can see her stiffening. I can understand why she would though. Almost any child would stiffen when he glances at you.

After we were done, we went back into my room. She complained about Orochimaru again. But this time, she included me in it.

"I mean, _how_ can you stand being with that creep?" Ayame paced, no, stomped back and forth. "He's like a pedophile, Sasuke, you know that!" I nearly snorted from laughter. "It's like he's waiting until the right time to pounce at you or something!"

My eyes narrowed. She may be a six-year-old, but she's smart. That's similar to what I found out about Orochimaru the moment I decided to train under him.

~.~.~

But her intelligence… It reminded me of…

"…Sakura…"

"Huh?"

When I realized I said Sakura's name out loud, I mentally smacked myself. "It's nothing." I glanced at Ayame, and I thought I saw something like fear in her eyes. Maybe I'm imagining things. "Ayame, do you hate staying here that badly?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"Answer me."

"Well, I wouldn't say _hate_…" Ayame crossed her arms, slightly pouting. "I don't really mind being here now."

"Why?"

She turned away, her back facing me. "That's why. I don't know why I don't mind being here anymore…" She banged her head against the wall. "What's wrong with me?"

I only watched with amusement. To think, about two and a half months ago, she was always ranting and complaining at me about leaving.

Now, she doesn't care or mind.

~.~.~

"_Sasuke-Kun!"_

_I wheeled around, finding a figure running towards me. Who can that be?_

"_Sasuke-Kun!" The figure came closer and closer. I realized that it was Sakura. _

"_Sasuke-Kun!" I wheeled around again. It was Sakura again, but she had longer hair. _

_Just like the beginning of our team._

"_Sakura…?"_

_They both stopped in front of him. Long-haired Sakura was smiling brightly. Short-haired Sakura was smiling less brightly though._

_I looked from one Sakura to another. What was going on?_

_Then, I heard crying. Something tugged me. I looked down._

_It was Ayame._

"_Ayame? What's wrong?"_

_She didn't reply. She continued to cry and cry._

"_I missed you so much, Sasuke!" She hugged my leg and started sobbing._

_I reached out to Ayame, but she vanished the moment I touched her. I looked up and the two Sakura were still there. _

_I reached out to them both, and they also vanished within my touch._

"_Sasuke-Kun…"_

_I turned around again, expecting another Sakura. There was._

_Her hair was a bit longer than the short-haired Sakura. She also looked a bit older too._

_Tears were streaming down her cheeks. _

"_Sakura, what's wrong with you?"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" _

_With that, she broke down, continuing to repeat 'I'm sorry' over and over again. I was flustered._

"_What are you talking about?"_

_She couldn't hear me._

"_Sakura!"_

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

~.~.~

I woke up, gripping the covers tightly. I touched my forehead. There was a line of sweat on the back of my hand.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Ayame was next to me, a worried expression on her face.

"It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

"… I heard you…"

I stared at her. "What?"

"I heard you say my name… and Sakura-Nee's name again." A sad expression replaced her worried one. "I'm sorry… I didn't… I didn't think I'd do this to you…" She collapsed on her knees. "Was I causing you those dreams you've been having lately?"

That's right. I've been having dreams like that one since a few weeks ago.

I suddenly embraced her. Both of us were shocked at my action, but I somehow knew why I did this.

"It's nothing, Ayame. Don't worry about it."

"But…"

"Just go back to sleep."

Ayame hesitated, but she nodded and went back to sleep.

I waited until she was asleep, then I went outside. I sat on the roof of a wall, listening to the sounds of the night. What did that dream mean? Dreams like that have been appearing lately and they all involved Ayame and Sakura. I can't tell if my subconscious is trying to tell me something or if Ayame really reminds me of Sakura.

"Damn it…" I gritted my teeth. This was a first for me to feel this frustrated ever since I left Konoha.

What is the message behind those recurring dreams?

~.~.~

_A/N: Again, I apologize if this chapter was short. Now, I will tell you the reason why though. After this chapter, one year will have passed. Naruto still didn't return to Konoha with Jiraiya yet. That will be until another year. :P This is why this chapter was short. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. ^^" I tried my best to put something interesting here… TT3TT_


	7. One Year, Many Secrets

_A/N: Well, one year has passed and everyone's a year older now (obviously). Oh, by the way, I'm changing something: Naruto WILL return to Konoha today. This is in Sasuke's Point-of-View. Oh, sorry about this: This will be another short chapter. Apparently, I became addicted with Pokémon… If you have no idea of what I'm talking about, please go look at our profile. It's important._

**空の絆****: Bonds of the Sky****  
CH 7: One Year, Many Secrets**

That girl… She wasn't normal… She was more than a little girl.

Those recurring dreams had repeated so many times that I became tired of it. By the time I started getting sick – literally – of it, I realized who that little girl. The little girl who was with me for a year, the one who stayed beside me, the one who would thank me so enthusiastically, the one who seemed to be so oblivious to the dangers around her, the one who would sometimes curse at me, the one who was smart for a six-year-old, the one whose reflexes and knowledge was just like _hers_.

It hit me. Ayame was not the girl I thought she was. Ayame was not the six-year-old that I slightly cared for. Ayame was not Sakura's cousin.

Ayame… was Sakura.

~.~.~

Only half a year had passed since I knew "Ayame's" true identity. I have absolutely no idea why I wouldn't say anything. I just couldn't. Perhaps it was the fact that Sakura disguised herself as a little girl this whole time without showing a single sign. Maybe I just chose to be oblivious. It could be that I didn't want her to know that I knew.

Whatever it was… I was certainly not enjoying the awkward feeling I had every time I was with her… or when she was with me.

Right now it was breakfast and Aya… Sakura… was keeping quiet, trying to avoid Orochimaru and Kabuto. I can understand why she would, but I don't get how she can be _this_ good.

I put down my spoon and left the table. Sakura finished her breakfast in one bite and followed me.

…

Ugh, that awkward feeling came up again. I slightly sped up my pace and I heard her footsteps speed up too. Before I knew it, I was walking very fast and her chasing after me. We were nearing my room.

"Will you slow down?" she yelled after me. Sakura tripped and nearly fell to the ground.

My body reacted and caught her in time. I cringed. Really…? I never thought anyone could actually make me cringe. I took a hesitant breath.

"Be careful."

"How can I be careful when you're walking at a pace I can't even catch up to?" Sakura continued to pant. "Why are you keep pacing so fast? Did I do something?" My eyes darted back and forth, checking if anyone was near us. I grabbed her and entered my room. "Ow! Hey, let go of me, bastard!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I grew frustrated having to deal with this while knowing her real secret. I threw her on her bed behind the window, gritting my teeth. "Why are you doing this?" I growled lowly.

"Why? _Why_ am I doing this?" Sakura repeated. "Don't get me started, Uchiha. You just grabbed me out of nowhere and threw me on your freakin' bed!"

I crossed my arms, feeling myself stiffen. "That's not what I mean."

Sakura raised a brow, rolling her eyes. "Then, what do you mean?"

That was it. I slammed my hands on the bed and got face-to-face with her. "Why are you doing this, Sakura?" I snarled. "I know it's you. It hit me six months ago, Sakura, six months!" I didn't know what else to say. All I was able to do is growl at her while she was scared and frightened of me. "Why are you Ayame? Why in the world are you like this?"

"Y-you… knew?"

"It has been six months since I knew." My brows furrowed as my hand covered my face. "How long are you going to keep this up?" Then, she did the most unexpected thing. She punched me. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You want to know why? You want to know why and how I ended up here?" Sakura snarled. "It was only a simple mission until those fucking sound ninjas came around! They ambushed me and tried to take me away! I had to turn into what I am now!" She started stomping across the room, flailing her arms about and screaming at me.

It was only a few minutes until she fell on her knees. Her body started to tremble.

Normally, I'd be indifferent to signs like that, but strangely, she was making it difficult to be. "Are you crying?"

"Just kill me, Sasuke."

"What?"

Sakura raised her head and her eyes were red… from anger. "I told you to kill me!" She attempted to suppress her explosion. "I lied to you about having a dead family, my identity, and everything else!" She sat in a fetal position and dug her head into her knees. "How can you not kill me when I lied about something you experienced?"

I bit my thumb, not knowing what to do. It was true. I've realized that a long time ago, but the thing is… I didn't have the urge to kill her. "I don't know. I don't know why I wouldn't kill you." My eyes were glued on her. "I already knew about the family lie. I just couldn't find a reason to kill you."

"Yeah, right," she hissed. "I'm pretty sure you were angry about it."

"I was, but there was no reason to kill you."

"Ha!" Her head threw back in laughter. "Why? Is it because Itachi, your brother, is the only person you want to kill?" She rolled her eyes and moved to the window. "Nothing will come out of killing him, idiot."

I gritted my teeth. "You don't know _anything_." She does know. "You don't know how it feels to have the person close to you betray you." I crossed my arms. "Don't tell me that there'll be nothing. I never want to hear it come out from your mouth again."

She only sat there, looking out the window. "Whatever."

~.~.~

I couldn't train today. My mind was preoccupied with Sakura. I sat down on a log, rubbing my head. This is ruining everything.

"If you're not going to kill me, what are you going to do with me?" I looked up to see Sakura, looking up at me with a stern expression. "You know you can't keep me here as long as you know that Ayame is actually Sakura." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to tell you something that you might already know about."

My eyes glanced at her. "…"

She chuckled. "It's so ironic, really."

"Get to the point."

Sakura let out a groan of frustration. Her lips suddenly moved up in to a smile. She chuckled. "I keep telling myself that I despise you…" Strangely, that nearly sent me into a negative feeling. "… yet I still love you." She picked up a thick branch that was bigger than the size of her current hands. She broke it in half within a second. "I really hate that feeling."

"Hn." I couldn't find myself to ignore her. It became so hard. "Ayame" really softened me up… "You are making things beyond difficult for me…" I accidentally muttered.

"Oh, well, excuse me!" Sakura scoffed. "Don't blame me for your mistakes. It's not my fault you decided to protect me and everything. It's not my fault you helped me. It's not my fault you took care of me."

The room was silent and soon enough, we were having a glaring session.

I was the one to break it. "You are so annoying."

Sakura's glare shattered and her head lowered. "Those words… I wonder why it's so true…" She looked up at the blue sky, her lips pursed in a neutral line. "I would really love to aim those back at you…" she paused, "… with just a bit more acrimony."

A question suddenly arose in my head. "Oh, oh yeah…"

"What now?"

"How long are or can you be in this condition…?"

She raised a brow. "… Condition?"

I pointed to her. "You as Ayame, idiot."

"Oh." Her shoulders slumped as her face dropped. "About that…" She scratched the back of her head. "I'm going to be stuck like this until some… paranormal-like technique breaks it." She shrugged. "Who knows…? I might even be stuck like this for the rest of my life."

I stood up. "Well, if you can keep up this disguise for a year, you can keep it up for a few more months." I looked out the window. It was almost time for my plan to begin. I felt my hand grasp my sword, which felt cold against my skin. "It's almost time…"

"Time… for what?"

My eyes looked up, realizing that I said that out loud. "Nothing." I lied on my bed. My eyes closed, but my mind was wide open. Now that Sakura knew I figured out her identity, she would probably plan to kill me or escape.

~.~.~

It turns out that I was wrong.

Hours had passed and Sakura hasn't made or shown one sign of either of those options. She just silently sat by the window on her bed. She sighed once in a while, but it wasn't bothersome. I opened my eyes again and glanced at the window. Sakura was still there, staring outside. It became dusk and the stars were beginning to appear.

"Hn." I turned over to my side, facing the wall. It was almost dinnertime, but I wasn't hungry.

"I'm going to go to the dining room to get dinner. Do you want anything?"

Since when did she change moods and decide to be motherly?

"…" I stayed silent, hoping she would just leave. After I heard the door click, I knew she left. I sat up from my bed and stared at the door. Something was giving me a bad vibe… maybe it's because I'm letting her go without me. I don't think anything's going to happen to her.

…

After what felt like an hour, Sakura came back in. When I looked at the clock, half an hour had passed by.

She threw me a large, red apple and went to the window again. "You don't need choo eat if you don't want choo." I felt my eyebrows furrow. Did she just say… 'choo'? "I didn't poison it, either."

Sakura faced the window and ate her rice balls. I heard her whimper once in a while. Something was not right. I approached her, but stopped when she leaned forward. She shook her head sharply without facing me. I hesitated, but went back to my bed. I slightly leaned to the side to get a glimpse of her face in the moonlight.

Her cheeks were slightly swollen than usual. Was she pouting? Or was she stuffing her mouth with the rice ball? No, wait… that's not… the color of her skin. I suddenly jumped forward and forced her to look at me. There was a swollen and purple bruise on her right cheek, a small speck of dried blood on her lower lip, and her left eye was swollen to the point where it seemed to blind her left eye.

My eyes slightly grew wide. "What the fuck happened to you?"

Sakura looked away. Her lips were pursed and I knew she couldn't say anything… or else. I examined her wounds again. They seemed more painful and worse than that cut she got when she was whipped.

"Who did this to you?" My voice became dangerous.

"I'm s-sorry."

"What?"

"I c-can't t-tell you…" she tried to say. "I-If I do, something w-worse is going to h-happen to you." She stood up on the bed. She was right now one head shorter than me. Sakura placed her hands on my shoulders. "Listen, d-don't come near me anymore. I-If you do, I'm afraid y-you're going to get hurt."

I stared at her for what seemed to be the longest time I've ever stared at her. "I'm not worried about that." I felt anger boiling up inside me. "Once again… _Who_ did this to you?"

"Please, Sasuke! I don't want to see you get hurt!" She started to shake and she hugged her body in an attempt to stop. Her emerald eyes were wide and they were shaking. She was sweating and her body was starting to tremble violently. "Y-you don't know what you're going up against… P-please…! J-just don't ask m-me anymore!"

My eyes grew wider. I had never seen Sakura like this before. She never looked this horrified before.

What happened in that dining room?

~.~.~

_**The Next Day… Konoha…**_

"Naruto Onii-Chan!" Konohamaru greeted. He ran up to the fifteen-year-old Naruto, who definitely grew taller and more mature. "You're back!"

"Hey, Konohamaru!" Naruto greeted back. "What's up?"

"W-well…"

"Oi." The blonde turned around to see Shikamaru and Temari. "I need to talk to you privately… now."

"U-um… sure…"

Naruto followed the two to Tsunade's office.

"WHAT?" He slammed his hands on Tsunade's desk. "What do you mean Sakura-Chan's missing?"

Tsunade glared at him to lower his voice. "It's exactly what I mean."

The room became silent and dark. It lingered for a few more seconds until Tsunade decided to give him the blunt truth.

"Haruno Sakura has been captured by Orochimaru."

~.~.~

_A/N: Sorry about the really short chapter. I'm not exactly motivated nowadays… -0-" Anyways, check our profile for information. You'll see what I meant in the first author's note._

_Here's some questions for you to answer:_

_**What do you think happened to Sakura?  
Why is Sasuke concerned for her safety?  
When do you think Sakura will get her original body back?  
How do you want Sakura to get it back?  
Where do you think Naruto will head for next? (Soooo obvious… xDD)**_


	8. The Rising Sun

_A/N: I'm aware that you guys want to kill me. That's why I decided to make this a little longer than usual. I'm sure it won't replace that boiling frustration of waiting for years, but I tried! (Just be lucky that I'm getting into Naruto again AND that the reviews saying that I should update this motivated me to continue! *shot*)_

**空の絆****: Bonds of the Sky  
CH 8: The Rising Sun**

"You called me, Tsunade-Sama?"

The blonde-haired Hokage did not face the summoned ninja. "Yes. This is a mission, but the search for Sakura is related to this." She crossed her arms and stared at the clear blue sky. "It's been over a year since she was captured. We've been sending out so many search parties, yet no one found a single clue!"

Yes, Haruno Sakura has not been found nor heard of. Every time Tsunade sent out a group to search for her, they ended up coming back with little or no lead. Her precious student hasn't been in contact for the past year. To be frank, she missed Sakura. Despite her tough demeanor, she had great love for the people of Konoha and the village.

"Tsunade-Sama, does this mean I will be part of the search party this time?"

"Yes," she replied. She finally turned around. "Rei, you will be. I've seen your progress this past year, and I think you're finally ready to be in one."

Rei was a 17-year-old who was born in a family of travelers. However, his family been killed after his birth. He had been captured by Orochimaru several times and made an escape every time. This time, he was freed willingly and headed to Konoha to deliver Sakura's message. Ever since he arrived to Konoha, he was taken in with warm welcome and rose up to the Chuunin rank.

"Tsunade-Sama, you have no idea how grateful I am to you and Konoha." Rei gave her a deep bow. "I was only delivering a message from Haruno Sakura, but the village took me in and helped me become who I am now." He raised his head with a thankful smile. "I have come to love Konoha immediately and would do anything to protect it."

Tsunade smiled. "You know, you sort of remind me of Naruto," she paused, "… well… the calmer version of him anyway." Rei chuckled. "I don't think I made a mistake when I assigned you to his team. What do you think so far?"

Rei laughed nervously. "Well, those two are quite… interesting. Naruto-Kun is a very energetic person. Sai-Kun can be a little strange, but I don't blame him. He tends to be, um, socially awkward."

He remembered when he was assigned to Team Kakashi as soon as he turned into a Chuunin. Naruto had complained and threatened him for being Sakura's replacement. However, he told them to think of him as a new addition to the team. As time passed, Naruto got along with Rei very well.

"Sai hasn't called you anything strange, has he?"

"He has. But I didn't really mind it." He scratched the back of his head. "In my point of view, I found it more flattering than offensive. I can't tell whether it's from respect or a random name." Rei shrugged it off. "So who will be in this party?"

"The people I mentioned: Naruto and Sai." Tsunade sat down on her chair and leaned her elbows against the desk. "Since Kakashi must rest, your team will have a different person going in his stead. He is an ANBU, but he will be acting as your captain." She looked at the clock. "He'll be here any moment now." On cue, a knock was heard behind the door.

Rei opened the door and found a rather tall man wearing an ANBU uniform. He felt slightly intimidated by the appearance, but shook it off. "Come in, sir, you must be the ANBU joining us, right?"

The ANBU only nodded in reply.

"Rei, this is Yamato. Yamato, this is Rei. Like I said before, he'll be your captain in place of Kakashi." Tsunade looked at the ANBU named Yamato. "I explained the situation to you this morning, so all you need to do is introduce yourself to Naruto and Sai."

"It's an honor indeed to take Kakashi-Senpai's place." He removed his mask to reveal his face. He seemed rather serious, but hey, that was what made them ANBU. Yamato then turned to Rei. "So you're Rei-Kun, right? It's nice to meet you. You can call me 'Captain Yamato'." Rei gladly shook his hand. "I heard some impressive things about you, by the way."

"Oh, you did?" Rei slightly blushed from embarrassment. "I wouldn't say impressive, but thank you."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Anyways, make your introductions and get on with the mission. This mission is mainly to intercept Sasori's spy that's working under Orochimaru, so you can obtain information on Orochimaru, Sasuke… and Sakura. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good, now go and introduce yourself, Yamato." The two left the office, leaving Tsunade to think. "A year… What's happening over there, Sakura?"

~.~.~

_**Meanwhile, somewhere far away… (Sasuke's POV)**_

Orochimaru had moved to a new hideout. There were two things that Sakura hated the most at the moment. One, it was another underground hideout. Two, she couldn't heal her injuries as fast as she used to.

Sakura was setting up her futon next to my bed. I couldn't help but keep glancing at the injuries she received a few a days ago. What happened that night to cause such trauma?

"Can you not stare? If I had enough chakra, I would've been able to heal this within minutes." Her voice was still the same it ever was. She sat down on the blanket and touched her injury. "…" A faint cloud of green chakra covered her hand as she touched her injuries. The swelling on her eye had disappeared, but the bruise remained.

"You're still not planning to tell me who did that to you?" It was a pointless question, but I asked anyways.

Sakura shook her head. "Stop asking me that. I'm not going to answer you, no matter what." She faced away from me and continued her long self-healing session. "Do you hate me?"

I didn't answer. I sat on the bed and turned on the lamp. The light dimly lit the dark room. I looked at Sakura healing herself. She was still in a child's body. She called herself Ayame before I discovered her true identity. I still have to call her that whenever I'm around Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"When will you be done?" I asked.

"Why?" she softly responded. "Something you want to ask?"

"You never told me anything else about that condition of yours."

Sakura's eyes averted from her wound to me. Her emerald orbs were not as shining as they used to. They looked so barren, compared to a few days ago. "Why would I tell you?" She shifted her concentration back to healing and stayed silent.

I rolled my eyes, knowing that it would be impossible to ask any further. I may have cut all ties with Team 7, but it didn't mean I forgot about _them_. If Sakura was in such a focused mood, it was best not to pester her. I still remembered the days when Sakura would brutally beat Naruto for the tiniest mistakes. Well… that word was in Naruto's terms, anyways.

An hour had passed, and Sakura hadn't moved an inch. She remained where she was, still healing her injuries. Most of them faded into scars, but there was one deep wound on her right leg. The medics wrapped bandages around it, but she also made an effort in healing it faster. It couldn't even take her a full day to lessen the pain.

After a few more minutes, I heard a sigh and the sound of soft plop. It seemed she ran out of energy to go on any further. However, I had to admit I was impressed. Even as a kid, she had good endurance and steady chakra output.

That's when realization had hit me. I was slowly growing attached to her. I felt a small anger burning inside. But I deserved it. My only goal was to kill Itachi, my older brother who slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan. I was certain I erased the unnecessary feelings.

"Damn…" A stinging hiss escaped Sakura's lips.

"…"

Nevertheless, I couldn't stop that faint warmth in my chest. Was it because I felt pity for her?

~.~.~

"_Sasuke!"_

Not again…

_I turned around, expecting to see the long-haired Sakura. Instead, I saw Aya – I mean, Sakura – tugging at my sleeves. She had a bright smile on her face._

"_Hey!" The child version of Sakura kept tugging at my sleeves with excitement._

_I knew it was a dream, but I couldn't help but ask, "What?" _

_She opened her arms out wide, grinning. "I really love you, Sasuke Nii-Chan! You're the best big brother ever!"_

"… _What?" The first line made the moment awkward. But when she said 'nii-chan' and 'big brother', that was when everything collapsed into a messy mound of confusion._

"_Geez, why are you making me say it again?" she whined. "It's really hard to muster enough courage to say that out loud, you know!" Sakura took a deep breath and smiled again. "You're the best older brother I ever had, Sasuke Nii-Chan. I absolutely love you to death!"_

This dream was the complete opposite of those other dreams I had. This dream didn't leave me in confusion like the first recurring dream. This left me completely dumbfounded. I couldn't find the right words to say about this.

~.~.~

My eyes snapped open as soon as the dream ended. The only thing my mind was filled with was that dream. What the fuck did it mean this time?

"Ah." I turned my head to look at Sakura, who was staring at me with puzzled eyes. "You're finally awake."

I sat up from the bed, rubbing my eyes. As I adjusted my vision to the dim light, Sakura folded her futon up. "What time is it?"

"Judging by how much time had passed, I'm guessing a little before dinnertime."

I was surprised by the question I asked next. "Are you feeling strange?"

Sakura stopped to look at me. "Strange? Well, other than the throbbing pain of this wound, not at all." She pushed her futon beside my bed and sighed. "Do you want me to get the dinner again? I don't mind." I didn't hear anything wrong. She sounded normal, her usual self. What was I looking for?

"No," I replied with a serious tone. "I'm going with you this time." I wasn't sure whether it was my imagination or not, but I thought she looked a little more relieved when I said that. "Let's go." We walked outside my room and headed for the dining room.

"Ah, does Orochimaru have an underground fetish or something…?" Sakura limped a few feet behind me as she complained. However, when we were close to the dining room, she caught up to me (by limping). I froze when she hesitantly gripped my finger. I looked at her, but her head was lowered. She then released me with a small apology.

"Do you want to stay out here until I come back?"

"No, I'll go in," she replied. Even if she did have a confident look on her face, I took a hold of her wrist and walked inside with her. "…" She stayed as silent as possible. We grabbed what we usually ate and passed Orochimaru's table.

"Ah, Sasuke-Kun," Kabuto called. _Thump._ "I see you brought your slave with you." _Thump._ "You seem to be letting her roam around freely without your supervision. What happened these past few months?" _Thump._ I didn't feel much either. I felt Sakura's pulse beating normally. It was like she had absolutely no fear whatsoever at the moment.

I ignored him as usual. "It's none of your business." I proceeded to drag Sakura out of the dining room.

But of course, I knew Orochimaru wouldn't let go so easily this time. "Sasuke-Kun, do you anything about this Ayame child?" _THUMP._ Her pulse increased at her previous name. She was in a bad situation. "Do you know about her true identity?" _THUMP._

"I know. Do you really think I wouldn't know after all this time?" _Thump._ She couldn't take it anymore. I felt her arm twitch in my hand. "We're going. Let's go." We finally exited the dining room. As soon as we did, I felt her pulse rate decrease. She was strong, I had to admit. Anyone would've panicked if Orochimaru asked that question, though.

But something felt wrong. I dug deep into my thoughts, wondering what just happened. Was I thinking too much? _Click._

"Sa-Sasuke…!" she quietly called out. "You're s-squeezing my arm too tight! It hurts!"

Red. All I saw was the color red. My mind was going through a catalogue of ways to murder. I felt my heartbeat racing fast. The most important thing was… that pain was piercing my heart as if someone shot an arrow at it. Images of pink hair ran throughout my head. My body felt like an empty shell of this feeling. Unknowingly, I tightened my grip around Sakura's wrist.

At this point, she was kicking me with her left leg. "Damn it, I said to let go of me! You're breaking my arm!" she cried.

I snapped out of my thoughts and released her. "…" What was this feeling inside me? Did I actually want to kill Sakura now? No, it didn't feel like it at all. I didn't get it. Nothing came up to mind.

Sakura rubbed her arm, which now turned a burning pink. "What's wrong? You suddenly stopped and… I-I felt a murderous intent from you." She looked up at me with concerned eyes. "Sasuke, what happened? Did you remember something really bad?"

"Your words may be a lie, but your body says everything," I muttered. "Try to make it harder for me next time, would you?" I stared at her and headed to my room. I heard her footsteps following me.

She cocked a brow and asked, "What do you mean?" I didn't reply. I turned the knob, opened the door, and let Sakura inside. "Sasuke? Where are you going?"

Her voice cracked at the last sentence. I knew it. Sakura could lie with words, but there was no doubt that her body couldn't. "Training. It's time I take over Orochimaru." I shut the door before she could even protest. I already knew the deep meaning behind it.

"What?" _Don't leave._

~.~.~

_**Sakura's POV…**_

Damn this tiny body!

I rubbed the area where Sasuke grabbed, hissing at the searing pain. If I was back to normal, I wouldn't have been fazed by this strength. However, the body of a child was very fragile. There was no way any kid would've been able to withstand Sasuke's strength. At the moment, I was too busy cringing at the throbbing of my arm to care about my other injuries.

As soon as the throbbing faded, I ate my dinner, which was only a glass of water and some rice balls. I then resumed healing the large wound on my leg. It didn't matter about my arm. I knew I could heal it within a day.

But this leg was my main problem. If all I can do is limp, there was no way I'd be of any use anymore. Then soon…

_I'll be killed_. The thought lingered for a long time. My body turned numb, cold sweat was dripping down my cheek, and I shut up my eyes. That horrifying scene replayed in my eyes. _Stop. Stop! STOP!_ I quickly thought of something else to distract me from it.

"Calm down, Sakura. That was only once. You're not going to make the same mistake again," I kept telling myself.

I stopped the healing and checked my leg. I moved it as much as possible. A smile made its way to my face. My leg was now able to move without a problem. Yes, of course I was satisfied! I can finally train and walk as much as I want! But that didn't mean all the tissues and muscle inside were healed. If I left this alone, something worse would've happened.

"Just a few more minutes and I'll be done."

Somehow, I felt as if my power was growing day by day. Was the collar weakening? Or was my power really increasing? I didn't know. The one mystery that I couldn't figure out was this collar. There was no way to unlock it, to break it, or weaken it. If I tried to break it, who knows what could happen? That was one risk I wasn't willing to take. It didn't seem as if time would weaken this either.

Just like Shikamaru would say, "_This is troublesome."_

_If only I can truly be Ayame… I would have no fear, no common sense, and no complaints as a child…_ My eyes widened at that sudden thought. What was I thinking? To be Ayame? Then, my eyelids lowered. Actually, I thought that wasn't a bad idea. If I really was Ayame, maybe I would forget all this and go on with my life.

I clutched the shirt I was wearing. It was the Uchiha shirt that Sasuke lent to me on the first day. "… It's been a long time, hasn't it…?" The healing session stopped and I plopped onto my futon. It was soft, but cold. I wanted to get inside the covers, but my body was too exhausted to move. My eyes slowly closed and I fell asleep.

That night, I had a bloody nightmare. I couldn't describe it well, but my stomach was in knots just watching it.

Sasuke entered the room and saw me on top of the blanket. He sighed and shook his head.

"_Help me… somebody…" I cried. There was blood dripping from me everywhere. No one answered. Nothing but darkness._

"What are you doing?" He slightly shook me. "… Hey."

_In the darkness, I felt something. It felt like… a warm light. "Hey," it faintly called out. I looked up. There was a tiny dot of light ahead. "Sakura." I could barely hear my name._

"… Not waking up…" he muttered. He sighed as he awkwardly carried my little body in his arm and lifted the blanket. He then set me gently on the mattress and covered me.

_The light grew bigger as I chased after it. "Sakura." My name was said clearly this time._

Sasuke patted the blanket before standing up. "… Hgg…" He looked back at me, seeing tears decorate my eyelashes. He crouched back down next to me, looking confused. He then wiped the tears away.

_I entered the light, and it embraced me. It surrounded me. I felt comfortable warmth that kept me safe in its arms. "It'll be over… soon."_

My eyes fluttered open as I regained consciousness. "What time is it…?" I sat up, but noticed that the blanket was on my body. "I thought I… Never mind." I checked the clock on top of the drawers. It was late in the morning already! "Oh shit!" I perked from bed and proceeded to go to the restroom… until I saw a plate of rice balls prepared.

A note was placed next to it saying, "Eat up. We'll be moving today." Not again… I wanted to cry at how much we were moving lately. This was going be the seventh move this month! Just what in the world was going on here?

I grabbed the plate and leaning against the wall. I took a bite of the rice ball, noting how delicious it tasted today. "Hmmm… I wonder what's gotten into the cooks…" I continued eating until I was done.

But I didn't think that Sasuke was up to something I told him not to do.

Hours had passed, and Sasuke still hasn't returned yet. I was growing bored inside the room. As much as I wanted to go outside, something told me I should stay back. But another part of me suddenly started screaming to go out and find Sasuke. What did I choose to do? I found myself running outside in a panic.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!" I opened every door within my reach. No one was there.

That was the strangest part.

_NO ONE WAS HERE. NO ONE WAS ANYWHERE._

"Is this… genjutsu…?" I shut my eyes and concentrated on my chakra state. No, my chakra was fine. It wasn't being manipulated in any way. Then, why wasn't anyone in their rooms? Were they all outside? "Fuck, where is Sasuke?" I closed my eyes and focused on his chakra signature. My head whipped to the opposite direction of where I came from.

"…" I ran as fast as my legs could let me. As I neared Sasuke's location, I felt an intense chill crawling down my spine. This chill felt venomous, powerful, and inhuman. The overwhelming chakra was bringing me down with its pressure. My legs felt heavy from the atmosphere. I wanted to get out, but I wanted to find Sasuke also.

I stopped a few feet beside Orochimaru's room. My eyes widened at the pile of rubble coming from his room. There were _sliced_ wooden pieces of the door all over the floor. I heard sounds of a blade slicing flesh-like things. I heard multiple thuds and saw something_ big_ and _white_ falling out of the doorway. My heart and stomach were tied into knots when I realized they were _snake heads_.

Paralysis struck me. My body refused to move even an inch. "Sa… Sasuke…" I continued to hear crashing sounds, breaking wood, and falling piles of rubble. The more sounds I heard, the more I wanted to run in and carry that damn Uchiha out.

Suddenly, everything became silent. A loud thud echoed through the hallways. Soon, an ear-piercing hiss pounded against my ears. "…" My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"You wanted to take over people's bodies so badly… you experimented on your own…" I heard him state. Then, I heard more hissing, crashing, and slashing sounds. Suddenly, Sasuke's chakra changed. It felt colder and deadlier. That was when I saw more snake heads and blood spurting out from the room.

I could take it anymore. I fell on my knees and vomited. I was quite used to human blood, but the sight of blood following snake heads was just disgusting. This was uncommon, something you _never_ see. I gritted my teeth and staggered over to Orochimaru's room. Whatever was there… I was ready to face it. The moment I peeked in the room, I wanted to vomit again.

Sasuke (normal) was kneeling on the floor, grunting. I also felt it. There was paralyzing venom in the air. But that was not what made me want to throw up my breakfast. It was that large, white, hideous snake that was extremely eerily familiar to the legendary Sannin. The body consisted of not scales, but white snakes. _Is that really… Orochimaru…?_ It loomed over Sasuke, opening its mouth wide.

_Like I'll let you!_ I threw some senbon at his face, only attempting to distract Orochimaru. Of course, it didn't affect much. I did say that it didn't affect _much_, right? His eyes averted to me for a moment, and that's when Sasuke used the chance. His eyes changed into the Sharingan as he glared into the serpent's eyes. The serpent stopped and dropped to the floor.

Neither Sasuke nor Orochimaru moved. They remained frozen. Something was occurring within them. But I couldn't figure out what.

After a few minutes, the serpent spewed blood out of its mouth and stopped moving. Sasuke looked up and turned his head to me. He only saw me staring at someone else.

"Ka-Kabuto…" I stuttered.

Without another word, Sasuke motioned to me to follow him. We both walked past the medic.

"Which one," Kabuto gasped, "are you?"

My first impulse was to kick Sasuke and run away. I didn't think that it actually could've been Orochimaru who took over Sasuke. Why do I know about Orochimaru's take-over-a-body technique? I remembered when Naruto and I went alone to find Sasuke. We were in the hideout Orochimaru and Sasuke was previously in. It was a memory I've always wanted to erase.

"Which one do you think?"

"…" I kicked Sasuke and attempted to run for it. Of course, he already grabbed hold of me before I could even turn around.

Kabuto fell silent. When I looked, he seemed to be under a genjutsu… or something like that. Sasuke must've been using his Sharingan on him. The horrible thing was that I stared into Sasuke's eyes too. I felt like I was sucked inside his mind.

It was dark. The substance under my feet felt like a ground of flesh. My stomach was churning again. "Ugh… I seriously don't want to risk any more vomiting…" I then saw two "statues" ahead. Kabuto was more near those things than me. I squinted my eyes to see what was going on. However, something blocked my vision.

It was like a hand was covering my eyes.

"It's better if you don't see this," Sasuke muttered. I only heard the desperate protests of Orochimaru and a _lot_ of sounds of "moving flesh".

"Wait, what did you do?" I asked. Before he answered, I was thrown back into reality. I saw Kabuto looking more shocked than ever. "What…?"

"Orochimaru-Sama… is… dead…?" He shook his head. "No, it's more like…"

Sasuke smirked, his Sharingan still activated. "I've taken over," he finished. "Let's go." Sasuke dragged me away from Kabuto. I only saw Kabuto stand there and look inside Orochimaru's room. Sometimes I've wondered about that white-haired man… Why did he choose to follow Orochimaru? What would've happened if he didn't?

"Where are we going?" I asked. "And let go of me! I can walk too, you know!" Sasuke released my hand and let me walk behind him. "Um, hey, did you maybe… I don't know… find the key to unlock this collar?"

"I didn't find anything," he replied.

I stopped walking. "Wait here! I'm gonna go ask Kabuto!"

"Wait." Too late.

I was already running back to the bloody room, expecting to find Kabuto in there. To be honest, I expected him to be crying over Orochimaru's dead… snake… body. "Kabuto!" Like I expected, Kabuto stepped out of Orochimaru's room. I stopped several feet away from him. "Where's the key to this collar?" I pointed to the restricting leather collar that still bound my neck.

Kabuto seemed a little too despaired to answer. It took a few seconds for him to get a hold of himself. "Orochimaru-Sama was the only one who had access to unlocking the collars. I have absolutely no power or key to unlock it. It was Orochimaru-Sama's creation." He nudged his glasses up. "Besides, that collar is more dangerous than you think. If you force it, you might even die."

My teeth were grinding against each other in anger and frustration. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're Orochimaru's lackey, aren't you? You're _supposed_ to know how to unlock this thing!"

Sasuke suddenly teleported in front of me. "That's enough. We're going." He took me before I had a chance to protest and teleported somewhere else.

~.~.~

We arrived to what seemed like a laboratory full of testing tanks. They were filled with water… or whatever substance Orochimaru used.

"Hey! I may be a child, but that doesn't mean I can't go back on my own!" I shrieked. "Just let me return to Konoha! All you need to do is just say that I'm free, and I'll be on my way back home!" Sasuke didn't reply. A vein popped inside my forehead. "I said-!"

"Shut up," Sasuke snarled. We stopped in front of an ordinary tank.

There was nothing but water inside. I stared at the tank in confusion, but made no attempt to ask.

"I thought that was you," the water spoke, "So you really defeated Orochimaru, huh?"

My jaw dropped to the floor. I felt the color drain away from my face. "Th-the… the… the… w-water… sp-sp-spoke…?" That was all I could say. Nothing else came to mind. What a twisted place Orochimaru had… Actually, come to think of it, how in the world did he transfer all these stuff into all those hideouts?

"Yeah." Sasuke then moved his hand to his sword. "First, let's get you out of there." With quick and soundless moves, he sliced the glass into pieces and let the water pour out. The liquid surrounded our feet as the pool grew larger and larger.

"Finally…" The voice came from behind me. When I turned around, I saw something… no… _someone_ materializing from the water. "Thanks, Sasuke."

"Ahhh, wha…?" My eye twitched. "Oh… SHIT."

"You're the first one, Suigetsu. Come with me," Sasuke demanded.

The water man named Suigetsu fully materialized from the water. However, he was naked. I wasn't fazed by the fact he had no clothes on. Compared to what I saw during medical training, this was nothing. But this certainly was something you don't see every day.

"Who are you?"

Suigetsu turned his attention to me. He looked shocked. "So… this is the rumored child named Ayame, eh?" He grinned, showing me a row of teeth as sharp as a shark's. "You're well-known among the slaves and experiments, kid."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm actually a sixteen-year-old kunoichi."

"Are you serious?" Suigetsu snickered. "No way, you've got to be joking!"

"She's really sixteen," Sasuke confirmed. "She just used a technique that forces her body to become a child's." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, we have two more to go: Juugo from the North and Karin from the South."

Suigetsu looked slightly annoyed. "Those two? I can't even stand them." He chuckled. "Why did you choose them anyways?"

Knowing Sasuke, I was sure he would say something arrogant instead of the actual reason. "They just need to learn how to shut up. Now put some clothes on before we go."

"Well, at least you sound like a leader." Suigetsu chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck. Suddenly, he disappeared from sight. My eyes widened when I realized that he was behind Sasuke with an index finger pointed against his head.

There was tension in the air when Sasuke didn't budge or make a sound. He simply looked at Suigetsu's finger.

"Let's get some stuff straight, shall we?" Suigetsu warned. "Just because you took Orochimaru down doesn't mean you're in charge. Someone was bound to kill him eventually. You just got a better chance than every one of us."

"Your point?" Sasuke firmly asked.

"My point is… I have the advantage now. I might as well kill you right here in front of the little girl." My hand was about to touch the bag of senbon in my back pocket, until Suigetsu laughed. "Just kidding!" He took his hand away from Sasuke's head. "Man, your pulse didn't even change! You won me over." He shrugged. "I've heard of your strength before. Your team was the one who defeated my old senpai Momochi Zabuza, right?"

Momochi Zabuza… That took me back. "Those times… I have to admit were great." My eyes became clouded by the memory of the past. "Well, I will admit I was very annoying back then." That one word was enough to take me to the day when Sasuke left Konoha. "Ugh… Sometimes, it's so nostalgic that it sickens me. Fuck."

Suigetsu snickered again. "Ooh, you sure do have a colorful vocabulary for a child." He then reappeared before me, poking my cheek. "I guess you weren't lying, huh?" I noticed Sasuke's hand diving for his sword.

I slapped his hand away before Sasuke could even try anything to hurt him. "Of course I wasn't. What was your first thought when Sasuke confirmed it?" It was strange. I spent time with this Uchiha so much to the point where I didn't even add 'kun' to his name.

"Heh, what a feisty girl." Suigetsu whipped his hand in the air. "Hey, Sasuke! Mind if we take a detour? I need to retrieve something before we get the other two."

"Fine by me." Sasuke then turned his attention to me. "Where do you think you're going?"

I winced at the question. I'm pretty sure you know what I was trying to do. Yes, I was trying my futile attempts at escaping again. "Damn it," I hissed. One would've expected me to return to where Sasuke was, but this time was different. I made a run for the exit even though I knew there was no point. I arched my neck to see whether Sasuke was chasing me or not.

"You might want to look forward!" Suigetsu exclaimed.

I felt Sasuke's presence right in front of me. I couldn't stop my feet. I crashed right into his leg and fell on the ground. "You know what, Sasuke? I seriously want to know why you won't let me return to Konoha!"

Sasuke only gestured to Suigetsu to dress and return to where they were. Suigetsu shrugged and disappeared somewhere.

"Do you realize you're currently vulnerable to any type of attack with that collar and the state you're in?" Sasuke growled. "If anything were to-" He stopped mid-sentence. He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Whatever. I'm still not letting you go until we get that collar off."

"Tch, well…" I scoffed, "All the more reason for me to try and get this thing off now." I took out a senbon and approached the nearest water tank. The reflection of the glass was enough for me to see. I pulled down the collar of the shirt and looked at the back. During the one year I had, I made careful examinations of the collar. Apparently, there was a small metal lock in the back of the collar. Off all weapons, the senbon was thin and long enough for me to work the lock through.

As I continued to mess with the lock, Suigetsu appeared fully clothed. "So… What's the kid… uh… Ayame doing?"

"Ayame is just a name I used as a disguise." I pressed my head against the glass, concentrating on the lock. "My real name is Sakura."

"Heh, what a name. It actually fits you."

I looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about? My hair is…" I was shocked to see what I saw. There was pink. Pink hair… "Pink…?"

"You didn't realize?" Sasuke mumbled. "Your hair's been gradually returning to its original color."

My once lilac hair has returned to its original, beloved color. If my hair color was returning to normal, then what was happening to the rest of my body? I definitely knew that my body couldn't return back unless countered with an equally-powerful technique. "I didn't notice."

We finally stepped outside of the underground hideout. The sun wasn't out yet. It felt great to be outside again though – after what happened earlier.

"So, Sakura, was it? How did you end up in this miserable position?"

I glanced at Sasuke, wondering if caught that. He didn't seem to care. "I was on a mission, but I was ambushed while taking a break. I turned into this to prevent being killed." I scratched my head and sighed. "I'm pretty sure Konoha was always sending search teams for me… I miss them."

"And Sasuke's actually holding you against your own will, eh?"

I scoffed. "You're quite slow to realize, aren't you?"

"Ouch, that hurts," Suigetsu teased. He took a sip from his water bottle. "Ah, that's refreshing." He then saw me staring at the bottle. "Oh this? I have to drink water frequently to keep my fluid levels up. I _am_ made of water, after all."

"Ah, that makes sense. So where are we going?"

Suigetsu smirked. "We're going to the Country of Mist. I'm planning to take Zabuza-Senpai's sword as my own. Let's go."

Zabuza and Haku… They may have been assassins, but they were truly good to each other. They knew they cared about each other deep inside. It was a relationship that couldn't be broken. They shared a deep bond. I caught myself glancing at Sasuke. I looked away in irritation and walked ahead of them. "I'm not planning to run away…" _Yet._

An hour had passed, and we haven't exited this thick forest yet. I grew tired of going over logs, tree roots, and large boulders. If only I had my sixteen-year-body instead of this six-year-old body… Plus, this collar was draining my chakra too. It was common to be exhausted at this point. Actually, anyone would've fainted already.

We were now traveling across a river. The current was much too fast and powerful to stand, so we had to resort to stepping stones.

I felt sick and dehydrated. My stomach threatened to throw out the last piece of food I had in it. I suddenly slipped on a mossy stone and fell backwards. A loud splash echoed as I was dragged away by the rapid current. I wanted to get out, but my strength was gone. My body refused to listen to my desperate pleads for help.

The river continued to wash me away. No rocks were in the way to stop me. Strangely, I felt the exhaustion finally catch up to my head. My vision became blurry, my eyelids slowly closed, and my consciousness was beginning to slip away.

~.~.~

It was dark where I was. There was only me.

Did I die? No, it felt different.

I used the time I had to think about what happened this past year. So much had happened after my capture.

_What would if I was Ayame_? I thought. _Ayame was just an identity I created: an innocent six-year-old child who has no fear, no complaints, and no common sense. Just like my childhood version of me._ I just wanted to get away from this situation, until the time was right.

I didn't want to forget Sasuke, though. Ayame would've thought of him as her older brother. Maybe he would care about Ayame more than me.

_I want to be Ayame. I want to become her just so I can relax a little more._

There was something inside my head. It was like… something invisible knocking on the door of my head. I dug through all this mess in my brain and felt for that little door. I touched the warm knob and ever so slowly turned it until I heard a click. I opened the little door and saw a tiny light in front of me.

The light broke into several orbs and materialized into Ayame. I wasn't surprised.

Ayame gently grabbed my hand and looked up at me. Her innocent smile was enough for me know her intention. _"I'm sorry I took a long time. You did very well, Sakura-Nee."_ She floated up to me and caressed my cheek. _"You've went through enough. I'll be here, so when you feel better, just knock."_ She tapped on the door I opened.

"I…"

"_Shh…"_ Ayame shook her head. _"Just relax, Sakura-Nee. Once you're all better, knock, I'll answer, and I'll disappear. Take your time, Sakura-Nee."_ She kissed my hand and gently patted it.

We walked past each other through the door. I didn't look back. Behind this door, everything felt so peaceful and comfortable. I closed my eyes and dreamed of what Ayame was seeing. This was going to be a long and relieving sleep.

~.~.~

"Sakura! Sakura!" A voice called out to me. It sounded like Sasuke's voice. "Is there any remaining water in her lungs?"

"I'm sure I took it all out! She should be waking up by now."

My eyes fluttered open to see Sasuke and Suigetsu's face in my vision.

Suigetsu whistled. "Damn, that was a huge rush of adrenaline." He sat down and sighed. "You gave us a really big scare. One moment we hear a loud splash and you're gone."

Sasuke helped me sit up. "Can you breathe?"

I only looked at Sasuke. A smile made its way to my lips. "You saved me, right?"

"Looks like you're fine now," Sasuke sighed.

"Thanks, Sasuke Nii-Chan!"

Sasuke and Suigetsu's eyes widened at me. Sasuke was especially the most shocked.

Rays of sunlight broke the dark sky with its bright light. The sun gradually began to rise above the horizon, giving the sky a beautiful gradient of colors.

"Nii… Chan…?"

~.~.~

_A/N: What? I wanted to try this idea out for a long time! xD Besides, I think it'll be useful later on. I hope this was a good enough chapter for you! I'm sorry I haven't updated it in 1 to 2 years! QAQ Forgive meeee! _

_Please review and tell me what you thought! ^^_


	9. The New Recruit

_A/N: Hey, Ichi here. I don't normally write this story, but Hana volunteered to help me. Apparently, artist's block struck her again, so she can't really do much right now. Anyways, I hope it'll turn out the way she writes it. And honestly, seeing how this story progressed, I felt like it needs to speed up just a bit._

_This is entirely in Sasuke's POV, given that Sakura needs some mental and emotional rest._

_Sorry for not updating everyone! This story will still live on._

**空の絆****: Bonds of the Sky  
CH 9: The New Recruit**

"What's wrong with you?" I asked. "Did you hit your head when you fell?"

Sakura only blinked at me in confusion. "Eh? I don't think so. I mean, I did recognize you, didn't I, Nii-Chan?" My brow twitched. "Nii-Chan, what's wrong? I'm sorry, did I worry you?" Her eyes suddenly turned teary and looked up at me with such innocent eyes. "I'm sorry! I just didn't want to be a burden to you, so I didn't ask for help…"

Even Suigetsu was dumbstruck. "Hey… Are you Ayame, by any chance?"

She grinned widely at us. "No, I'm Sakura! I thought you knew me, Sui-Nii…"

Suigetsu cocked a brow and sweatdropped. "S… Sui… Nii? What kind of nickname is that?" He then reached his hand out to her. My body suddenly made a move to stop him. "Relax, Sasuke, I'm just going to pat her." He did as he said. Suigetsu simply rubbed her head, which she seemed to like. "I'm just glad you're safe. I'm sure this guy is too."

"This isn't really like you, is it, Suigetsu?" I muttered. "You usually have a rather belligerent personality."

"Yeah, well, you can't really feel good when you make a child cry, right?" he replied. He stood up and cracked his neck. "Besides, things just got interesting around here," he whispered to me, "She thinks you're her older bro, and I feel like Sakura might've created an Ayame personality – a split personality." He smirked and gave a chuckle. "There's no way I can hurt that kind of child now, can I?"

I averted my eyes from Suigetsu to Sakura, who was squeezing the water from her hair. Was there no way to get Sakura back, but to wait? I sighed, pushing the problem aside. I was beginning to stall. I needed to hurry and go find Karin and Juugo now. "We're going." I stood up and continued our detour to the Country of Mist.

"Ah! Wait, Sasuke!" Suigetsu also stood up and followed me. He then stopped to look back at Sakura. "You coming, little lady?"

Sakura looked up and nodded. But when she attempted to stand, she fell back on her knees. "…" She pouted. "I can't stand…"

"Are you serious…?" I sighed.

"Oh! Then I'll carry ya!" Suigetsu walked back to pick up Sakura in his arms. "You don't mind, right?" He seemed to be asking me for permission. I wished I could've said that I didn't give a damn. I rolled my eyes and began walking again. "I guess not." Suigetsu picked her up and chased after me. "You're a lot lighter than I expected you to be."

"That's rude!" Sakura exclaimed. "How heavy do you think children are?" She grabbed a few strands of Suigetsu's hair and pulled them. "You're such a meanie!"

"OW!" Suigetsu cried out. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Quit it!" He seemed to enjoy himself though. "Let's see you take this!" He then placed her on his side and started rubbing her head with his knuckle.

"No!" she squealed. "Not my hair, not my hair!"

_What a nuisance_, I thought. I was actually beginning to prefer the silent, but violent Sakura. _Ayame_ seemed too loud and…

"_You're so annoying."_

My thoughts stopped at the phrase. I suddenly remembered that phrase I told Sakura when I left Konoha. It was as if she brought everything I tried to forget back to me. I hated it. I despised it. Yet I couldn't help but let the memories flow into my head. I looked back to see the two chatting contently. I believed that Suigetsu would make a better older brother than I would.

He seemed to have a soft spot for children, whether Sakura was 16 or not.

We were still a long way to go before we arrived to the Country of Mist. I calculated that we'll make it around late morning…

Sakura's stomach suddenly growled loudly. "U-um… I-I'm sorry…" She blushed a deep red and hid her face from both of us.

Make that late afternoon.

She then looked at me and averted her eyes. "D-don't mind me. I'll be okay."

I just couldn't ignore her. "You were watching me fight Orochimaru, weren't you?" She nodded nervously. I then knew that she must've vomited her breakfast at the sight of white snake heads falling out into the hallway. "I guess I can't blame you."

"Whoa there, since when did you have a soft spot for children?" Suigetsu asked. "I thought you were a man of iron, sir," he sarcastically added. After giving him a good glare, he laughed. "I'm kidding, man. But we're humans after all. I'm sure there's something that you enjoy doing or being with." He reached into his pockets. "You can keep walking."

I shrugged and walked on.

"Let's see… I'm sure I had one in here, somewhere- Ah!" He took out a chocolate bar from one of his pockets. "I smuggled it out of the kitchen while I was looking around. You can eat it."

Sakura swallowed, looking hungrily at the chocolate. "The whole thing?"

"Of course. I don't have much need for it." He smirked when Sakura bit one corner off and chewed it slowly. "You haven't had too many sweets ever since you got here, have you?"

"No, but it couldn't be helped. Sasuke Nii-Chan," I winced at the word, "was always worrying about me, telling me that I might be kidnapped and stuff." Nii-Chan. Nii-Chan. Why was she calling me that? I couldn't understand. I never acted as a brotherly figure to her at all! But why?

Later on, we stopped by a stream with fresh and clean water. Suigetsu had to refill his bottle, Sakura wanted to cool off, and I was feeling slightly thirsty myself.

While we were cooking some fish, Sakura came from the stream. She was carrying a few white rocks in her shirt.

"Ne, Sakura, I wanna ask you something. Come over here."

I took a sip of water from my bottle. The cool water felt refreshing against my parched throat. After a few more seconds of silence, Sakura giggled. I opened my eyes to see what she was giggling about.

"I don't _like_ Sasuke Nii-Chan. I absolutely _LOVE_ him!" she declared. "I want to grow up fast and become his bride someday!"

The water suddenly tasted strange and climbed back up my throat. I spewed the water out, nearly making both Suigetsu and Sakura jump. I coughed while wiping the water off my mouth. "What are you saying?" I coughed out.

Suigetsu was holding in his laughter. But he couldn't endure it. He burst into a laughing fit. "You should've seen yourself! Your eyes went so wide when she said that!"

Meanwhile, Sakura was steaming red from embarrassment. "What do you have against me, Sui-Nii?" She started pounding her fists against his head. "Baka, baka, baka!" I couldn't help but feel annoyed, but it wasn't towards Sakura or Suigetsu. I sighed, wondering what in the world I was annoyed at. Sakura seemed rather happy playing around with Suigetsu.

"Are you done eating now?"

"Mhm!" Sakura nodded. "Let's get going!"

I sighed and stood up. We put out the fire and went on our way. Suigetsu was behind me, quietly humming a tune. Sakura was beside me, trying to catch up as fast she can. _This is going to take a while,_ I grimly thought. We came across a large log blocking the path. Suigetsu and I were able to go over it easily, but not Sakura.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Suigetsu asked. "I mean, that collar limits chakra output. There's no way she, as a child, can climb up the log anyways."

"… Fine." I landed on top of the log and watched Sakura trying to use the dents of the log to climb up. But they weren't deep enough for her to use it to boost her up. I almost thought it was amusing. I grabbed the collar of her shirt and quickly pulled her up to my shoulder. "You're not walking anymore. You're only going to slow us down."

Sakura smiled a little sadly. "Sorry, Nii-Chan. I can't help it that I'm just a child…" She scratched her head while laughing nervously. "Ne, Nii-Chan?"

"Hm?"

"U-um, do you think you can forget about what I said earlier?"

I already knew what she meant. I too wanted to forget what she declared out to the world. "About what?" I dryly replied. Seeing Sakura's satisfied expression, I rolled my eyes smugly at her. I then remembered. "You didn't really get much a good rest because of what happened this morning, did you?" She shook her head, the replay of the scene returning to her eyes.

She may have switched with Ayame, but it didn't mean her memories were also lost. My hand suddenly shot up to rub her head. I was surprised at what I was doing. What was going on with me?

But looking at such an innocent girl who had no clue of her surroundings… I couldn't leave her alone. I felt like I was looking at my younger self before Itachi murdered the clan. A young child, who only wanted to be by his or her older sibling's side, get their undivided attention, and to be spoiled by… That was just like me. And now, it was Sakura.

Unfortunately, how could I not ignore her?

"Nii-Chan, you're messing up my hair!" she cried. My attention jerked away from my thoughts and noticed that her hair became puffy. "Geez…"

Suigetsu started chuckling behind us. "What were you daydreaming about? You've been rubbing her head for a minute, man."

"Hn." I shifted my arms to give her a better position to sit. "Get some rest. It might take a while for us to arrive." Our eyes met and I knew that she seemed uncomfortable about this. "It's not like I'm going to abandon you." _I can't, anyways,_ I thought. "I don't mind… I guess."

In minutes, I heard soft and even breathing from her. She must've been very exhausted since she fell asleep this quickly. I looked back at Suigetsu, who seemed to mind his own business about something else.

-x-x-x-

We finally arrived to the border of the Country of Mist. Many things changed the last time I was here. That was three to four years ago. It brought back so many memories of Team 7.

Suigetsu took another drink and smirked. "What do ya think, Sasuke?"

I looked up to see large sign that introduced the name of the bridge gate. It read 'The Great Naruto Bridge'. My lips parted at the nostalgia of it. A soft breeze blew, carrying the fragrance of the salty sea and the forest. I tasted a slight bitterness in my mouth after staring at the now completed bridge. "Huh."

"Sasuke-?"

"I don't care about it. Let's go." I adjusted my arms slowly, not to wake Sakura. She was still in deep sleep, undisturbed by the sound of the waves and construction noises. I lead him to Zabuza's grave, where we placed his sword behind his cross. "There it is."

It was obvious that no one bothered to come across here. There were tall grass and flowers growing everywhere. But I thought it seemed fit than a clean-cut area. The two crosses were left in peace, at least.

"Never thought it'd be all the way out here." Suigetsu walked over to the grave and grabbed the hilt of the large sword. "I'll be taking this, Zabuza-Senpai." He lifted it off the ground with a rough sound of the metal tip being dragged from the dirt. Years passed and the blade didn't even get dull. Suigetsu held the giant sword in the air, his arms slightly trembling at the weight. "Damn, this is heavy. So this is the sword of "Zabuza the Devil" of the Village of Bloody Mist."

I looked at Sakura again. She still hasn't woken up yet. It was already mid-afternoon too.

"Can you actually wield it?" I asked out of curiosity. I didn't think he'd be able to do so from how his arms were trembling. But knowing him, I was sure he'd be able to find a way.

"Are you kidding? I trained like crazy so I can join the "Seven Mist Swordsmen" someday," he replied, "There's no way I _can't_ wield it." He then gave me a smug look. "I can probably even beat you with such a great sword like this." He then wrapped the blade with a leather holder and strapped it around his back. "I figured I'd need this since Juugo's tagging along with us. You know what I mean, right?"

I smirked, knowing exactly what he meant.

After a deep breath, Suigetsu straightened his back. "Alright! Let's head to the closest base."

We quickly paced ourselves to reach the next base. The base where Karin was placed in.

I shifted my arms again. Suigetsu tapped my shoulder. "Hey, do you want me to hold her? You look like your arms are going to fall off any minute." I was hesitant to hand Sakura over to him. That blade on his shoulder was glaring with danger towards Sakura. "Dude, it's not like I'm to cut her with this. I'll make sure she's safe, _boss_."

"I'm fine," I replied. "Keep walking." My arms were numb. NUMB. But I didn't want to hand Sakura over to him. Something about her… There was something about Sakura… "What's wrong with me?" I inaudibly muttered under my breath.

Her small hand twitched against my shoulder. Her pink hair brushed against my neck, leaving a tickling sensation on it. The sound of her soft breathing was most of what I could hear.

"Sasuke…" My arm went stiff. "Kun…" My heart felt like it suddenly dropped down to my stomach. I didn't look at her, nor did I stop walking. She called me like how she always used to… how she used to call me back then. I wasn't going to let that bother me. Those times felt like nothing to me. "Don't go…" Ignore it. She's just having a nightmare again.

Was she faking Ayame's personality? She most likely would have. But then again, she became Ayame out of the blue like that. I was beginning to wonder if Ayame was just some kind of subconscious defense mechanism.

"Uh, Sasuke, is she crying?" Suigetsu suddenly asked. I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that my shoulder felt warm with drops of tears. Suigetsu approached us in a cautious manner. "What did you just do to her?"

"I did nothing," I hissed at him.

Suigetsu smacked himself with his hand. "Well, do _something_ about it. Don't you know how to take care of a child?"

Memories were flowing into my vision. I suddenly remembered something that Itachi – why did he appear – did for me when I couldn't stop crying. "Not sure if this will help." I gently patted her back in a rhythmic pattern. I occasionally brushed her hair with my fingertips. "Is she stopping?"

"Yeah, she stopped," he answered. "Nice going, Sasuke. You really pulled through on this one." I sighed in relief and kept walking. "You know…" I turned around to look at Suigetsu. "I know that Sakura's your friend, but have you ever thought of killing her?" My nerves felt like they had overexposure to snow and ice. That burning yet cold feeling was threatening to burst out of my heart.

"Hn, why do you ask?" I asked. It was thanks to these past years that I was able to manage my self-control.

Holding the back of his head with his hands, Suigetsu shrugged. "I mean, I've always thought you'd see her as a major eyesore." He exhaled, blowing a few strands of hair away from his face. "I seriously thought that she'd end up dead in a few months after she was assigned to ya." Suigetsu scratched the back of his head. "Ignore that 'killing her' question. I was just wondering."

"Next time, you should be more wary of your words." I adjusted my position of my arms once again.

"I'm surprised though."

I turned to him with a questioning expression. Just what did he mean by that?

"You know how some people can't come to ignore kids?" he first asked. "I thought Sakura would turn you into someone without any qualities of a leader… although I will admit that you did turn a little soft for children. I'm just making a point here that you haven't changed into such a low-life." That didn't bother me at all. It was expected of someone who had a little child as a slave. "Moreover, she was deemed as your 'slave' – the Uchiha's property."

I squinted my eyes in disgust, knowing where he was going to. "Don't you even dare speak of _that_."

"What do you expect me to say?" Suigetsu murmured. "Everyone was talking about it when you let her follow you." He drank more water and wiped his mouth. "Plus, there was this one guard that was muttering something about you not being that type." He nervously averted his eyes to the right and sweatdropped. "You didn't… molester her… or anything, right?"

"_Molest?_" I sharply repeated.

Then, everything began to replay. I knew what he meant by that now. It was that time when I finished showering and Sakura was embarrassed about what others would think. However, when I felt the chakra of a mere Sound Nin, I pulled her into an embrace. I mentally smacked myself for how stupid that was now.

"Yeah, he was patrolling near my tank." Suigetsu tapped his chin in thought. "The guy kept saying how THE Uchiha Sasuke was found hugging a little girl."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation. I didn't want any more stress than I had. "… Fuck it all." I had no time to make up a logical excuse. I sensed that Sakura was waking up. "Hurry up and wake up."

Sakura rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned. She couldn't open her eyes from the sudden exposure to the bright sunlight. "Mmph…" She burrowed her head into my shirt, continuing to rub her eyes. "What time is it…?"

"It's about mid noon, sleepyhead," Suigetsu teased. "You were sleeping for a long time, weren't you?" He poked her forehead and grinned. "So what was your nightmare about?"

Although her eyes were closed, she was looking at Suigetsu's direction with a puzzled face. "Nightmare? What do you mean?"

Suigetsu's eyes perked up in surprise. "You don't remember anything? You were crying in your sleep earlier."

"O-oh, was I?" she stuttered in embarrassment. "Oh gee, I can't believe you saw that…" After one last yawn, she checked her surroundings. "So… where are we going?" That oblivious innocence of hers would surely be taken advantage of someday… but I wasn't going to allow that.

"We're going to the closest base to get the new recruit." I was slightly uneasy from the silence that followed afterwards. I looked at her – only to find that she had no idea of the words I had said. "… We're going to meet the new member. Is that dumbed down enough for you?"

"Yes, sir." Sakura pursed her lips and looked forward. We finally arrived to a vast ocean. All I was able to see were ocean and sky. "The new member is in an island, right?" She narrowed her eyes to make out anything like an island. "I can't see it… Does that mean we have to walk really far…?"

"Bingo." Suigetsu pointed toward the horizon. "The new member – who is a girl – is in an island hideout. _She_ is extremely annoying. _She_ is way too loyal to Orochimaru… after all he's done to her and etc." Why was he keep emphasizing that the new member was a girl? There was no point in doing so to Sakura. "Plus, that _girl_ can get damn stupid when it comes to him."

Sakura sighed and leaned her chin on top of my shoulder. "Sui-Nii, stop teasing me. It's not gonna work," she muttered. "Besides, Sasuke-Nii won't fall for any girl. I learned that from experience!" What I didn't get was that she _proudly_ declared it. "You won't make me falter, mister!" She then fell silent as we continued to walk on the ocean water, the sound of waves echoing in our ears.

"Sasuke-Nii, did you really want to kill me before?"

Suigetsu perked up in shock, while my eyes slightly widened. However, I kept my pace. "Uh… When did you hear that, Sakura?" Suigetsu nervously asked. "Don't tell me you were awake when I asked that." Sakura shook her head.

"I… I don't know. I just felt like I heard something like killing me." Another sigh came from Sakura as she shook her head once again. Then her eyes seemed like she caught on to Suigetsu. "Wait, you asked him if he wanted to kill me?"

"Yeah I did," Suigetsu confirmed. "I'm not exactly the nice guy you thought I was, right?"

"Hm, you're mean." Sakura stuck out her tongue. "But I'm not scared of you, Sui-Nii. I've seen worse."

A mischievous grin spread on Suigetsu's face. "Oh, is that a challenge I hear, _little girl_?" He feigned a grab at his sword, which I felt her twitch at. "But if I took this baby out, Sasuke would probably turn me into sushi." Suigetsu shielded his eyes from the blazing sun. "Goddammit, how much longer do we have to walk?"

"Just a little longer. Be patient." I was able to recognize a familiar island sitting on the surface of the ocean. "We'll get there before an hour."

-x-x-x-

We were finally within the range of the southern hideout. It was already mid-noon, when the sun was at its peak. It was rather hot, but there was no time to waste. I had to hurry and recruit the last member after her.

"Hey, can I ask ya something?" Suigetsu suddenly broke the long silence ever since he complained. I felt like that small interval helped me stabilize my mind. I didn't feel any confusion whatsoever now. Sakura remained silent this whole time, which I think definitely helped.

I guessed it wouldn't be a stupid question if he decided to ask something now. "Sure." If it was stupid, I wouldn't answer.

"Why're you recruiting us?" Ah, I expected such a question from him.

"I have to carry out a certain plan. I felt it would be accomplished efficiently with a full platoon." We continued to walk on the tranquil ocean, the seagulls calling among their comrades above us. But it didn't quite help how I finally lost feeling in my arms. I couldn't allow that… not now. "Suigetsu."

Suigetsu's eyes perked up at me. "What?"

"Hold her." I felt a bit of resistance against giving her up – again – but I refused to lose my strength _now_. Sakura lowered her head but she didn't make an objection.

"Whoa, I'm surprised." Suigetsu gently took Sakura off my hands and held her carefully. "I'm guessing you now noticed that you can't hold a child forever, huh?" He gave her back a small pat. "No worries. This little brat will be safe with me." Sakura puffed her cheeks out at him. "Heh."

I gave him the longest stare I can manage before going ahead. _Brat, he says,_ I thought.

"So why me?" Suigetsu then asked.

"I've been planning this ever since I joined Orochimaru. I picked you all out a long time ago." I heard Suigetsu chuckle to himself. "What?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes when he laid eyes on the hideout. "Why would you pick Karin though? She's totally loyal to Orochimaru, unlike us. She'd be the last person to recruit, if I were you." Something glinted in his eyes. "We were both experimented on a lot… Plus, she got a damn shitty attitude."

I glanced at him. Karin was strange, I had to admit. There were times when she would act like a complete different person. But still… "There may have been many strong shinobi that I could've recruited, but she has unique abilities. I need her for this plan."

"Pfft." Suigetsu shook his head as if it can't be helped. "Yeah, well… She's unique, I'll give you that." I was facing forward but I heard Suigetsu. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

Why? What's wrong with her?

… was what I probably wanted to ask.

-x-x-x-

We were now within the halls of the hideout. It was a long hallway full of different prisons. There were so many prisoners in this hideout. We walked past the last prison box, giving them a glance before going on. I felt like one of the prisoners noticed who I was.

This was one way to relay the news.

I heard a few exclaims behind us. I was sure they were talking about my reason for being here. We continued walking until we spotted a very familiar person. It was her.

"I knew it…" the girl muttered. That person was Karin. "If you're alone… then it must be true." She then noticed Sakura, who was still asleep. "And you brought that little girl here too…" I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed as if Karin was glaring at Sakura.

"Tch, what am I, chopped liver?" Suigetsu scoffed.

Karin ignored him and asked sternly, "What do you want?"

Suigetsu showed his shark-like grin. "Sasuke's got a preposition for ya. Can you take us to a room or something? I'm seriously tired after walking so much. I don't wanna stand and listen to your yap."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Hmph." She turned around and walked through the halls. We followed her into a nearby room. "So what is this _preposition_ that Suigetsu's talking about?" We sat down on the sofas at the corner of the room. Sakura was sitting near Suigetsu, alternating glances from me to Karin. "And why did you bring _her_ along? She's just a _slave_, isn't she?"

Sakura lowered her head, trying to avoid Karin's eyes. "I-I'm not." That was the only counter that she was able to manage saying. Suigetsu ruffled Sakura's hair, to reassure her I assumed.

"She's not a slave," I sharply stated, a cold venom coating my tone. "Anyways, come with me, Karin," I ordered firmly, "I need you for something."

She stood there, gaping at me for a moment. "Huh? Why do I have to follow you? I'm in charge of this place, you know!" It seems she just didn't get my point.

"Orochimaru's dead."

"Then what about the captives, hm?"

Those prisoners were nothing. Besides, they had nothing to do with any of this in the beginning. They deserved to be set free… to pass on the message. "Suigetsu, go free the captives."

"What are you-?" Karin gasped.

Suigetsu smirked. "Still acting like the boss, eh?" He looked at Sasuke. "Do you want me to leave her with you, or should I take her?" He then looked at Sakura, who was fiddling with her fingers. "Wanna go with Sui-Nii?" (Saying it like that, he sounded like a pedophile.)

Sakura nodded and grabbed Suigetsu's offered hand. "I want to see those people go. They don't deserve to be locked up…" I didn't care whether she went or not. If she tried to escape – which I knew wouldn't happen – Suigetsu would grab her anyways. But even so, I kept track of her chakra while talking to Karin.

"Don't you dare!" Karin threatened the two. But it was futile. "I still refuse to follow you! I have my own freedom, you know!" Suigetsu and Sakura went out the door and closed it with a click.

Then I guessed I just had to give up. "Fine. If you oppose that strongly, I'll find someone else." There were plenty of others I could recruit after all. Suddenly, Karin rushed to the door and locked it. My brows furrowed in slight confusion. Was she trying to trap me?

"I'll come with you." Karin smiled at me, which left me even more confused. Just what was she getting at? She then approached me, taking off her glasses. "If you _really_ want me to, I'll go with you. I'm totally tired of this guarding job anyways."

This just did not make sense to me. Why did she change her mind so quickly? But that was not what made me feel uncomfortable. Her shoulder was slightly rubbing against mine. I didn't like it when someone just barged into my breathing space. I found strange how I didn't mind Sakura around me though. "Back off, would you?" I tried to push her away from me, but she wouldn't budge.

"Oh come on," she kept whispering at me. "We don't need that water boy and that little brat. All we need is each other." I felt myself stiffen from the uneasy tension.

"Sui-Nii, what are you-?" I heard Sakura shout from behind the locked door. Was Suigetsu doing something to her? No, he didn't. That was when the door was sliced into pieces. Karin jumped away from me in a hurry. The dust cleared, revealing Suigetsu and Sakura. One of Suigetsu's arms had become bulgy with muscle as he leaned on his sword with his other normal arm.

Sakura was gripping onto Suigetsu's pants with all her strength. She must've been frightened. Sakura originally wouldn't have, but she had become Ayame for now after all. "Sa… Sasuke-Nii!" She ran over to me, close to tears. She hopped into my arms, trembling from fear. I cocked a brow at Suigetsu, warning him not to do that in front of her again.

"C'mon, let's get the fuck outta here." Suigetsu's eyes averted to Karin. "Karin obviously doesn't want to come, so what's the point of staying here?"

I shook my head. "She changed her mind, actually." I pursed my lips as I patted Sakura's head as gently as possible.

Karin adjusted her glasses. "I didn't I was going to _follow_ you! I… It's just a coincidence that I'm headed in the same direction as you!" she strongly retorted. I still didn't get what she was up to. Her personality switched so quickly.

Suigetsu grinned at Karin again. "Lucky us, huh? So you'll be hanging out with us for a while, right?"

"Just for a while, water boy!" Karin firmly repeated.

As Suigetsu's arm shrunk, Suigetsu stated, "Juugo's last, I see." He then placed his sword back to his leather holder. "Let's hurry then."

"Juugo? Are you kidding me?" Karin asked, surprised by the last member. "You need his help too?"

Suigetsu and Karin broke into a verbal battle and Sakura quietly followed me while clinging onto the hem of my pants. The last destination was the North hideout, the base where Juugo was located in. We finally stepped outside into the bright sunlight. I had some difficulty adjusting to the sudden change of brightness.

"More walking?" Suigetsu whined. "Come on…"

"Going to the North hideout is suicide," Karin warned, "We'll be dead in moments."

"I've only seen it on the maps, but is it really that dangerous?" Suigetsu asked.

Karin was silent for a few seconds. "That place… was the main site for human experimentations. It's literally a home of the most horrible and unnatural beasts."

I heard a light sigh coming from Sakura. What was she thinking about…?

-x-x-x-

_**Sakura's POV…**_

I was horrified. I didn't think there would be a hideout just for the purpose for experimenting on humans like that. My senses as a medic refused to believe so, but this was Orochimaru we were talking about.

There was no way that he wouldn't leave a single human out for experimentation.

Sasuke was one of them, I realized. That moment when he got bit… That was an experiment too…! I sighed at how horrible Orochimaru was.

It was extremely short, but I believed that I relieved most of my stress now. Watching the soft side of Sasuke and unexpected kindness from Suigetsu felt comforting enough. Perhaps I created the personality of Ayame to reveal their nature deep inside. Well, that was cheesy. I felt a smile flicker on my face.

"Maybe it's time… although it was short." I approached the same door I met Ayame. I slightly hesitated to knock on this warm door. What would Sasuke do once I returned to normal? Would he treat me similarly to Ayame? Or would he push me away and keep his distance instead? "I'd prefer the latter though," I bitterly muttered.

With a deep breath, I softly knocked on the door.

"Ayame, I have something to talk to you about." Ayame opened the door and looked up at me with such innocent eyes. "I don't think I'm 100% ready to return to normal…" She smiled and nodded. "Even though you're a child, I'm sure you have my instinct as a medic, right?"

"Of course, Sakura-Nee!" she sang. "From what Tsunade-Sama taught you, I have learned what a medic does! I won't let anyone, no matter who it is, die in front of my eyes!"

I giggled at her cute determination. I really must've created a split personality. "Good girl." I tousled her hair a bit and sighed. "I'm counting on you, Ayame. I'm sure I'll be ready when all the members are recruited. I'm just not so sure about that last one, considering how he's the source of the curse seal." I grabbed Ayame's tiny hands. "Be careful, okay?"

Ayame nodded with confidence. "I promise."

-x-x-x-

_**Sasuke's POV…**_

We only walked about a third of the distance to the North hideout, but Suigetsu wanted to take a break.

"You're such a lazy bastard, Suigetsu!" Karin exclaimed. "The North hideout is still a long way!"

"Oh? I thought you were headed to another place." Suigetsu sipped more of his water. "Just get the hell out of our lives, will you?" This ticked Karin off and she punched him in the face. But of course, his punched head had turned into water. "Damn you, bitch."

"Hey, I just happened to have some business there!"

While those two were discussing about their goals, I watched over Sakura. She was sitting beside my feet on the ground, munching on a piece of bread that she had saved from this morning. I listened to Suigetsu's motive for following me, although it was a little vague for Karin. Then, they started discussing about Juugo and his reason of approaching Orochimaru on his own will.

Then, something caught my attention.

"Juugo bottled up those urges to murder inside him. But sometimes, he'd snap, forget himself, and turn into a murderous demon." Karin pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "Orochimaru became interested in his ability and created a special enzyme to make normal shinobi enter a similar state."

My eyes averted near my neck, knowing what she meant. Juugo was the source of the curse mark. I found Sakura looking at me in worry. I couldn't help but give a small reassuring smile to her. I rubbed her head, which she seemed to really like. "Let's go." I lifted her into my arms and stood up. "We don't have all day, got it?"

It took about an hour to finally arrive to the North hideout.

"I don't wanna walk anymore!" Suigetsu complained once again.

"Get off your lazy ass and move! We're practically here, Suigetsu!" Karin screeched. She faced him with a stern expression. "That sword is too heavy! Just ditch that piece of metal!"

Right when Suigetsu was about to retort, I noticed someone fallen on the ground. "Hey, over there." We rushed there, finding that it was a guard. He was heavily injured, on the verge of death.

"The captives… started a… riot…" the guard coughed out. "At this rate…"

Sakura then pushed me out of the way and seemed to analyze his condition. "You shouldn't talk, mister! I'll help!" She took a deep breath and the warm, green glow of chakra appeared on her hand. She was healing the guard! I narrowed my eyes. Was Sakura just feigning Ayame's personality? No, it still wouldn't make sense. If she was feigning, her habit of escaping wouldn't have changed. I was certain of at least _that_.

"I-impossible…" Karin gasped in surprise. "How can a child do such…" She then pretended to be indifferent to Sakura's ability.

Suddenly, Karin caught on to an oncoming attacker. "Watch out!"

"Take them, Suigetsu!" I ordered. He carried the guard and Sakura to another place, not harming the guard than he already is. "I'll take care of this."

The attacker slammed against the ground, bits and fragments of rocks shooting out everywhere. A human with beast-like features revealed himself. It was a level 2 curse seal transformation. Without a moment's hesitation, I slashed the captive on the neck.

The captive's curse seal disappeared within seconds. He then dropped dead from the loss of blood.

"Sasuke-Nii!" Sakura shouted in horror. "D-did you kill him?"

I teleported back to where Sakura and Suigetsu were. She was still healing the guard with steady effort, occasionally adding in more chakra. "I didn't." I then looked at the hideout, thinking of the possibilities of what's awaiting us.

Dead guards were a definite yes.

"I didn't know you could use medic abilities. Why would you heal a mere guard though?" Suigetsu asked out of curiosity. "He's just a guard, ya know."

Sakura shook her head frantically. "I just can't let them die! It's against what I've learned!" She was overworking herself just to heal a single guard. He was going to die anyways. "There." I stood corrected. "You'll be okay now, mister. But don't make any sudden or straining movements." Despite her height, she hid the guard behind a large rock. "Please stay here, okay?"

The guard weakly muttered a word of thanks and a smile bubbled to Sakura's face. I shook my head and picked Sakura up. "You are forbidden to walk from now on. You're sticking with us."

"Why, Sasuke-Nii?"

"You're already depleted of your chakra. If you can't protect yourself from what's inside, you'll die." Sakura's chakra had decreased so much. I couldn't risk her losing consciousness now. "We're going in."

We entered the hideout, finding nothing… no one. We walked in a little deeper into the hideout. What was waiting for us was a group of transformed captives, looking hungry for blood.

"All the guards are dead."

Suigetsu whistled. "How are we supposed to find Juugo among these guys?"

I glanced at Karin. "Karin, is Juugo in there?"

Karin sighed in frustration. "Alright! Don't order me around." She took a moment to sense the chakra signatures of the group. "Nope, he's not in there."

"Then we can go all-out on these guys, am I right?" Suigetsu amusedly asked.

"Just don't attack the vital points," I warned. "Karin, take her." I handed Sakura over to Karin, who looked extremely irritated about holding her. "If you do any funny business, you're not going to get away with it so easily."

"Hmph! Fine!" Karin put Sakura on her back. "You guys better finish it before I come back." She ran into the next hallway to look for the keys to Juugo's prison.

It took us minutes to take the group down. They were all weaklings. Why were they even experimented on if they couldn't even put up a fight? The sound of jingling averted my attention to Karin.

"I found the keys!" She held a ring of many keys up. "And take this girl off me!"

"N-no, no, I'll get off." Sakura jumped off Karin and landed on the ground. "I'll be fine, so you don't have to attend to me every second, Sasuke-Nii." She gave me a reassuring smile that she was completely fine. I was slightly hesitant, but I let her do whatever she wants. She followed behind us as we walked through the halls. I constantly looked back in case she ran away.

We then came to an intersecting hallway.

"Alright then… Lead the way, Karin." Suigetsu looked around, noting how each hallway was extremely long.

"Why are you doing this, Sasuke?" Karin seemed a little desperate in asking this.

Suigetsu smugly rolled his eyes. "Just tell us the direction. You're always bragging about your ability, so why don't you make yourself useful by using it right now?"

"Hmph." Karin closed her eyes, sensing where Juugo is. She then tilted her thumb to the right hallway. "He's that way."

"Finally…" We made a turn to the right and proceeded to find Juugo's cell. Sakura followed behind Suigetsu, while Karin and I were behind her.

Karin suddenly stopped me. She then grabbed my sleeve and dragged me to the corridor that went straight from where we originally were. "He's actually this way. Let's hurry, Sasuke!"

This girl was seriously not making any sense to me now. "Then why did you lie? Suigetsu's heading the wrong way now." We were already far into the hall. Plus, Sakura was alone with Suigetsu… _again_. A sharp and piercing feeling was churning inside me. I suddenly had the urge to call out to her.

But unfortunately, we were too far to be heard. I was sure that even my voice wouldn't be able to echo that far. I checked to see if Sakura's chakra was fine. It was still low, but I could tell that she was fine.

"Okay, stop pulling me. I can walk by myself." Half my attention was focused on Sakura's location. The other half was preparing for what Juugo was going to put me through. We finally arrived to a well-secured cell. There were locks, locks, locks, and chains. I assumed this was what the ring of keys was for.

Karin approached the door and began to unlock the locks one by one. As she did so, I felt a malicious chakra emitting from inside. I had to be careful with this. She then finished with unlocking the whole door. That's when the chakra spiked up ominously. I held my arm out. "Step back, Karin." I opened the door a bit, only to be greeted by…

"_**JACKPOT! YOU'RE DEAD!"**_

-x-x-x

_A/N: I hope this is good enough? This isn't exactly my first time writing this story for Hana, but I haven't thought about this for a while. Anyways, sorry about Hana. She's dealing with a major writer's block, not artist's block. So until she gets over it, I suppose I'll have to write this. :/_

_Please review._


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